The Cosmic Landscape Puzzle is an object that embodies the coexistence of the grid and the landscape. A graphic visual representation is being interrupted and rearranged by an abstract net. In a similar way, the map can be seen as a meeting point between the mechanical order of the latitude and longitude lines and a different kind of order, that of nature. I am interested in exploring this relationship between the physical and the ideal, organic forms and the strict perfection and precision of geometry, examining how these elements can coexist or contradict each other. Geometry is revealed to be present in both the landscape and representations of it, specifically in its application in cartography and architecture. It is the hidden order, the underlying grid that establishes the way in which the elements of our world confront one another and the loss of it is equal to the loss of structure. This notion that the universe itself provides evidence of order and structure is stated clearly in Plato’s Timaeus through a detailed description of the creative scheme of our world.
This puzzle is a multi-layered work that engages with these contradictions in its morphological and interactive qualities. As a collection of 81 squares that need to be reordered, it becomes a method to test out the dynamics between the human element, geometry and structure, challenging the relationship between all three. It is an ever-evolving field of oppositions, creating a collective environment around a table where interaction is key.
The linocut print, being a black and white image, represents the landscape simultaneously in its plain and explicit character. MDF is used in its pure form, uncoloured, as a link to the notion of model making, both in terms of its material qualities and ideas around accessibility, plasticity, ease and scale. The puzzle is handmade to precision striving to get as close as possible to a manufactured result. Its materiality becomes a critical reflection on the mechanical precision of the grid in contrast to the imperfection of the human touch. (2021)
