M_Merwine

FROM OBJECT TO FIELD

Field conditions and field configurations are two qualities of networks comprised of a multitude of objects. Field conditions are what defines a group of objects, as one cohesive unit or field. Each object has a unique identity but are linked through unifying characteristics or field configurations. Elements of a city such as streets, plazas, and other infrastructural networks are field conditions that create “local interconnectivity” and define the “form between things”.

GEOMETRIC VS. ALGEBRAIC COMBINATION

While algebraic and numeric values can help to define rations in design, geometry is the quality of work which creates unity and uses figures to create a larger whole. To design a building in individual parts, or as a collection of renovations and additions without regard to past precedents is ignoring the overall organization and unity of the parts. That being said, one can establish unity locally, not in an overall scheme but by defining conditions in localities which connect with each other.

WALKING OUT OF CUBISM

Post-Cubist minimalism employed the use of not only the art itself but the space between the art and the viewer to create a composition which involved the body of the viewer themselves and the physical space of the gallery. The works themselves shift and “introduce chance and contingency” and are simultaneously unified and distinct from the field that it occupies. Form is produced through a “sequence of events”, usually in the process of the materials used and how the materials flow through the work.

THICK 2D: MOIRES, MATS

Figure and field are not opposites, where the field is more like the ground, but more akin to natural formations emerging from a whole. Moire’s are produced when two regular fields are superimposed, creating irregular behaviors based off of two sets of regular conditions. The field is inherently horizontal, but can have unique vertical moments such as skyscrapers.

FLOCKS, SCHOOLS, SWARMS, AND CROWDS

Flocking is a natural phenomenon which has been found to occur even in experiments with artificial intelligence. A flock is formed from field conditions without regard to overall form. Any unity in a flock is defined locally, and anomalies are adjusted to. Local behavior patterns tend to produce the same flock patterns in many iterations. On the other hand, crowds are more complicated and take into consideration more individual desires. Flocks are fluid, where crowds and swarms aim to exert a sense of control over the whole.