The ability to rapidly recognize objects despite substantial appearance
variation is solved in the brain via a cascade of reflexive, largely
feedforward computations that culminate in a powerful neuronal
representation.* The perception or reading of the pictorial plane
shifts dramatically as one begins to comprehend that what seems
to be a “painting” from a distance reveals itself to be an assemblage
of buttons, or pieces of dominoes, closer up. The mathematical
calculations applied by the artist to form visually stimulating works
of art are not immediately apparent, and only by trying to count the
number of objects in the sequence of each row can one verify the
formula. The surprising result defies logic, and the play between
random and calculated effects becomes an adventure in discovery.
In the current exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York, Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies
in Art, 1965–2018, the curators focus on conceptual, video and
computational works of art based on instructions encompassing sets
of rules, code, and programming. Uniquely, José Patrício applies his
computational algorithms without the aid of technology. His works of
art are an amalgam of painting, sculpture, and assemblage of objects.
The carefully calculated sequences of everyday objects such as
buttons, dominoes, dice, and other materials result in extraordinary
patterns, both symmetrical and asymmetrical. Algorithms applied to
the placement of these objects have been used by artists at different
times. However, each artist invents his own method and technique,
attaining unique visually stimulating effects.
Josef Albers was born in 1888 in Botrop, Westphalia, Germany. As
a younger artist to his contemporary teachers at Bauhaus Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, he was the crafts master. When Bauhaus
closed, Albers moved to the US in 1933 to teach painting at Black
Mountain College. His students included Robert Rauschenberg and
Cy Twombly.
In Josef Albers’ Homage to the Square (1949 onwards), he made
hundreds of paintings based on the idea of nesting 3 or 4 squares,
each in a different colour or tone. These chromatic interactions
demonstrated that the permutations of the order in which he placed
the colour combinations altered the emotional impact of the paintings,
as well as the perception of the size of each square.
Sol Lewitt, an American artist born in 1928, was renowned for
postmodernism, minimalism, and conceptual art since the early
1960s. He worked as a graphic designer for the architect I.M. Pei in the
1950s. In 1967, Lewitt stated, “In conceptual art the idea or concept
is the most important aspect of the work. . . . [A]ll of the planning and
decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory
affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.”
Since 2008, 105 of Sol Lewitt’s Wall Drawings that were created between
1969 and 2007 have been on view at the Massachusetts Museum of
Contemporary Art. Number 289 had the following instructions:
A 6-inch (15 cm) grid covering each of the four black walls. White
lines to points on the grids. Fourth wall: twenty-four lines from the
centre, twelve lines from the midpoint of each of the sides, twelve lines
from each corner. (The length of the lines and their placement are
determined by the drafter.) (Detail: 4th wall only)

In the 1960s, using handmade paper in printmaking, José Patrício
started to create works in different mediums, including sculpture,
assemblage, and painting. For several decades, he experimented and
refined his techniques. The results are varied, evoking patterns of
different cultures, both past and present.
Patrício is as intuitive in his approach to living as he is to his work.
Throughout the decades of ups and downs in political, economic, and
social upheavals in Brazil, he has managed to create and establish
his own rules. The life Patrício constructed from the start is that of
a traditionally regarded “gentleman”, with mild manners and high
principles, adhering to an exemplary moral rectitude. His innermost
passion and deeply felt emotion is translated through a disciplined
organization of life. He has achieved a balance in his work akin to the
evolution from an administrative position in a cultural institution. He
has gone from being the technician in the visual arts program at the
Joaquim Nabuco Foundation to finally being able to devote himself
exclusively to his successful career as an artist.
Referring to Imago Mundi, the artist says, “This work symbolizes and
refers to the concept of a unit, in turn a totality and the manifestation
of a whole as the result of a permanent creative action. The integral is
a recurring idea in my work. Other works of mine can also encapsulate
this, but I believe that the series Imago Mundi definitely embodies this
aspect, simultaneously producing repetition and diversity.”
* J. DiCarlo, D. Zoccolan, and N. Rust, “How Does the Brain Solve Visual
Object Recognition?”, Neuron, vol. 73, issue 3, 9 February, 2012, pp.
415–434.