EXTINCT FORMULAS

Formulas which are no longer active, having mysteriously ceased to function.

New color media will be tested and new formulas discovered and the old will give way to the new. It's the nature of research.

Glue paintings are a permanent record of these phenomena.

FRESH POSSIBILITIES - WET TESTS 2014

Wet tests, 2014

The season begins with new color tests. Once the properties of new colors are known, they can be combined with others to create an endless variety of new formulas. Fresh possibilities are pictured here, still in their wet state and in the process of expanding. Hundreds of tests like these will be made.

Their value to future research will be determined after they dry; but while in the process of becoming, anything seems possible.

I observe with anticipation and no small sense of wonder.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

WL, June 2014

Glue Season 2013

Annual end-of-season photo, 2013. Emphasis this year on grid variations - Hex Grid, Lateral Pairing, Nucleotide Sequencing, and Vertical Stacking. Single extended expansions and compacted miniatures also appeared for the first time.

THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE

#1309 (Nucleotide Sequence 3), 10" x 10", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel.

Formula chains are synthesized on a template strand, each of the hues orbiting a neutral nucleus.
Hue sequences within the hexagon contain specific hue formulas introduced into the cell membranes.
Adjacent and analogous hues represent domains containing inferred harmonics.

Within the cell membranes, the reaction mix includes an 'inert' (usually a water-based variant) and a 'spreader' that activates the hybridization within the cell on the hexagonal template.

The HEX

#1310, 24"x 24", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel.

Another grid variation.

The Hex Grid (based on a hexagonal point configuration) allows a more dynamic arrangement for the individual cells while retaining the practical research value of the regular grid. It imparts the appearance of shifting movement and suggests more complex relationships between the cells, which now form implied vertical and diagonal associations. (Click on image to enlarge)

New possibilities are opening up.

By isolating a section of the hex grid I believe an entirely new entity may emerge.
Next - THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE

ADDING SUBTRACTION (On the Benefits of Absence)

#1302, 24" x 24", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel

After testing a full grid of new formulas (#1301, previous post) my usual procedure is to weed out the weak results and replace them with new possibilities on another full grid. But an alternative priority entered my mind - - breaking the grid.

The grid is a function of the research process - - it allows orderly notation of the formulas for future reference. But it's also an essential element of the "meaning" of the work - - to lend a sense of order and rational categorization to a mysterious phenomenon (the self-determined expansion of the materials from the center of each liquid cell). A balance of order and chaos.

But the rigid square grid offers few possibilities for variation. Or does it?

The idea that came to me here was to simply subtract the less desirable formulas leaving arbitrary openings on the glue-bed surface. A vestige of the research grid remains intact but a new compositional balance emerges with variations that allow more complex relationships between the cells. Breathing room.

In what other ways can I break out of the square grid?

Next - The Hex Grid

THE ACID TEST - NEW FORMULAS 2013

#1301, 24" x 24", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel.

After hundreds of tests of new color combinations, the 49 most promising formulas were selected for the first "acid test" - application on a permanent glue bed. This piece will serve as a reference for the rest of the season, and will tell me whether more testing is necessary. Lackluster formulas will be weeded out and replaced, and under-represented hues will be noted and their number expanded through further testing.

There are promising results here. I like the variety of patterns - some scattered, some structured; some diffused, some dense. There's an overall impression of opening and closing across the grid, lending it a sequential feeling of animation and moving the eye. (click on image to enlarge)

I've already decided my modus operandi this season will be to let each piece suggest the next. This is the starting point.

Next - "Subtraction"