Tessellations

What?

I started working with tessellations by hand, because I’ve been fascinated with how accurate tessellations can be made with only the eye and the hand, without instruments. I made one in my notebook, and enjoyed the challenge.

Next I converted it into a digital drawing and then laser cut it on mount board.

Next I took the cut mount-board and started assembling the pieces. I tried to make a complex layering with it, and not to repeat the pattern exactly, creating small variations so that each square will not look exactly right, though there will be an overall similarity. Playing with the pattern, but not too obviously.

So what?

This kind of translation of pattern allowed for more complex thinking, dwelling on the aesthetics of what I was doing more closely, since that was almost the only guide I used. Visual precision and aesthetic discernment were used to build. The digital drawing happened very fast – took very little time and mental effort, but the hand drawing and assembling the cut pieces were more challenging.

What next?

Could this be developed into a set of exercises? Would they become a recipe and defeat the purpose? How can this kind of thinking be facilitated?