system project

i've settled on an idea, but as of yet i have only rules and no visuals

to begin, make a large-ish (vague now, yes, i'll tighten that up) blue dot on any intersecting point in the grid. from this dot, 'travel' with 1/4 inch lines up and over and around anywhere along the grid so long as each 1/4 inch line touches the last without tracing over it and the lines stay on the grid. whenever you wish to stop, pick up your pencil and make another large-ish blue dot at your end point. count the number of 1/4 inch lines you made. subtract any amount over 30 (if you made 35, subtract 5) from the number 30 (so if you had 35 initial lines, subtract 5 from 30, leaving you with the number 25). with this new number, draw that many vertical blue lines from approximately 3 inches from the top of the paper to approximately 3 inches from the bottom of the paper. with each blue line, try to trace a vertical line in the grid. any time your blue line strays from the vertical grid line, draw 10 red lines of any length anywhere on the page, and draw one yellow line horizontally along the grid. with these yellow lines, again try to trace the grid line, and for each failed attempt draw 10 rd lines of any length anywhere on the page and 1 blue vertical line to join the earlier blue lines. this system continues recursively unless the artist is able to trace the grid lines directly or is willing to quit and/or lie about their efforts.

this is compelling to me because 'messing up' ultimately produces more visual interest, and that's a nice notion. i let the red lines be of any length and at any point so as to be a relief in the face of frustration; and because i imagine that if a person ends up having to perform these tasks for upwards of twenty minutes they'll come to see many more red lines than blue and yellow ones, and perhaps see that the volume of red lines is not only evidence of their poor tracing but also evidence of their independent choices, when they were apart from the rules for a bit.

but, of course, the freedom exists because a rule allows it to -- is that really freedom? i've come to see now that these ten drawings are ultimately representative of governments and their manipulative suggestions regarding our own freedoms within their rule structures and how even our fleeting moments of freedom are dictated by a rigid, bureaucratic grid. and i encourage you to read as much as you possibly can into whatever system you create.