Page 34 - Studio International - September 1971

A procedural proposition: selection, repetition, extension,

I like to see systems don't quite work.
I have used objects in groups determined by
functional relationships. The objects are simple, the REPETITION
relationships are not. All the things in the basic set are new and available commercially. The number of identical basic sets is
I have used systems of repetition, extension and readily increased to four.
exchange because they expose the nature of the
relations between objects without tampering with the
nature of the objects themselves. EXTENSION
When I try to think and act as logically as possible, I Four sets of five things are extended to five sets of four things by removing one thing from each set,
am both pleased and frustrated because the each time a different thing.
objects I have chosen resist my attempts to Each of the five new sets is missing one thing; each of the things missing is different; each of the five
systematize. sets is different.

4 complete sets:
I. clipboard 2. paper 3. pencil 4. drawing 5. eraser extended to 5 incomplete sets

A B C D E
1. 1. clipboard 1. clipboard 1. clipboard 1. clipboard
2. paper 2. 2. paper 2. paper 2. paper
Basic clipboard set: 3. pencil 3. pencil
1. clipboard 2. paper 3. pencil 4. drawing 5. eraser 3. 3. pencil 3. pencil
4. drawing 4. drawing 4. drawing 4. drawing
5. eraser 5. eraser 5. eraser 5. eraser 5.
SELECTION The original sequential procedure is carried out as far as possible in each set.
A group of sequentially related objects.
A functionally rather than visually based A. The first set can be completed. As there is no clipboard, the paper, pencil, and eraser hang from the
relationship. nail.
Real things performing real functions. B. The second set cannot be completed. As there is no paper, the drawing cannot be made.
C. The third set cannot be completed. As there is no pencil, the drawing cannot be made.
The clipboard holds the paper, the pencil makes D. The fourth set has all the things necessary for the procedure, but it is not completed because the
the drawing, the eraser removes the drawing. thing to be omitted is the drawing.
E. In the fifth set the drawing remains intact. As there is no eraser, the drawing cannot be removed.
The drawing illustrates the other things in the set.
The pencil and the drawing are considered two
separate things in the set.
The eraser removes the drawing and tries to
return the paper to its original state. The erased
sheet of paper is not considered a sixth object.

The clipboard hangs on a nail in the wall.
The pencil and the eraser hang on separate strings
tied to the top of the clipboard.
The nail and strings are not included in the basic
set. Their presence is a matter of presentation and
is arbitrary.
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