TAKE A DOT FOR A WALK

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Paul Klee famously stated that a line is “a dot that went for a walk.”  You make a dot when your pencil touches your paper, and that dot goes for a walk because of the gesture of your hand.   A walking dot is the trace that is left on the paper as you move your hand. This trace is called a line.   

Using Klee’s inspiration, I took my dot for a walk  And in doing so, my line becomes the generator of a form.  We start with two overlapping geometries.  Where the geometries intersect, we are free to put a point.  Our walking dot then inhabits, and connects the points.  Let me break this down, step by step, in the captions below.  

1.  Source.  I selected these two photos. I took both of them, one in Spain, and the other in Argentina, about a year apart.

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2.  Geometry.  I drew each of the two Sources, one in pencil, and one in orange pen, on my paper.
3.  Intersection.  I put points where the two Geometries intersect.
4.  Walk.  After coating the paper in yellow ink, I took my dot for a walk.  My line discovered pathways and connections between and around the points.  The line was drawn in one continuous motion. 
5.  Form.  The pink tone was applied as a response to everything that has been put on the paper before.  It is one of many possible holistic responses.   It would not have the features and interest without responding to the previous marks on the paper.  This is the output of the process.

 

6.  Utilization.  The three drawings show various utilizations of form that was output in Form.  The top left drawing could be a bag, or a children’s toy.  The bottom left drawing could be a building.  The right drawing could be an article of clothing.

As a result of taking a dot for a walk, we generate a lively, interesting and previously unimaginable form.  How the form was generated remains evident.  The form is ours.  And it is available to the world for various functions.    

Panama City, Panama.

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