The allure of graph paper

Grids: What Are They And Why Do I Like Them The Mysterious Beauty of Grids Grids Of Control And Beauty Graph Paper is the Secret to Modernism

A grid implies order and control, but it also invites play. It provides the ideal context for gameplay because a game’s rules and state can be precisely specified in relation to the grid. For example, in Chess, each piece’s movement ability is defined according to the grid’s geometry. The chess board provides a rigid scaffolding on which unpredictable dynamics of the game can progress.

Each tile in a chess board’s grid has an address: columns are represented by letter and rows by number, such that one can identify a tile from a letter and number combination. A player’s move in chess can be represented physically on the chess board, or can be serialized into a coded string using this addressing system.

The making of

Often when you see the details behind how something was made, whether it be an art piece, a movie, a game, a drawing, a weave, our old friend the grid can be found quietly providing a supporting role in the planning and ideation process. These sketches can sometimes be more interesting than the finished piece, because they reveal the secret underlying system of the grid. And when we see the system behind something, we can understand its modularity. It can be extended, remixed, re-imagined. It also allows us to see that we, too, could have made the art piece. We could also grab a piece of graph paper and color in some squares. To realize that artists, designers, engineers, are working within these constrained systems sparks some hope that we too could design within the system.

(color theory couple, women with grid planning out)

I propose to author an essay exploring the history and aesthetics of grids, alongside lightly interactive p5.js grid-based sketches. In the essay, I will try to poetically answer the question: why are grids so creatively enticing despite their strict rigidity? And why was graph paper so exciting to me as a kid? To find the answer, I will talk about games, Susan Kare, weaving, cellular automata, map making, monospaced fonts, and memories of my Dad showing me how to use graph paper. I might also discuss the possibility that grids limit our creative potential or reveal a culture obsessed with quantification and mechanization, although my mind is not made up on that. In the p5.js sketches, I will loosely riff on the themes of the essay, juxtaposing globby blobby forms against regular grids.