Paul Hertz: The Recordatori Series: Prairie
Artist(s):
Title:
- The Recordatori Series: Prairie
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 1999
Medium:
- Iris Giclee prints
Size:
- 36 inches x 36 inches x .05 inches
Category:
Artist Statement:
“Prairie” comes from a recent series of compositions developed from algorithmically generated tiling patterns. In their surface appearance, the compositions imitate traditional arts such as quilting, weaving, and ceramics. Through careful choice of compositional rules, the artist creates pattern modules that recall natural patterns such as the dispersion of plant species across a meadow.
The artist began working with these tiling patterns over 20 years ago in Spain, where he developed the theoretical basis for the current series through an abstract, mathematical shorthand for representing the patterns and the rules that govern them. The patterns were used for paintings, theatrical games, and parametric spaces for musical compositions. Using a computer to manage the possibilities for image production and intermedia composition which would have been practically impossible to explore manually.
The series title, Recordatori (Catalonian for “memorial”), suggests that patterns act as memory cues, preserving and regenerating experience. Although in a sense the generative process itself is the artwork, the artist also attempts to evoke the role of traditional arts in carrying memory forward and the simple satisfaction we experience in the play of pattern and color.
