Structure
A certain manner of growth, of accretion, of interaction among entities, appears to be optimal for the universe we inhabit, a consequence, perhaps, of basic laws of physics. Again and again, matter organizes into the same basic structures–spheres, sheets, tubes–which themselves organize into second order structures, and so on, bootstrapping into complexity. The images in this series serve both as tangible evidence of actual patterns of interrelationship and as a metaphor for all such systems.
To make these works, I photographed, in color, a small area of a natural pattern (structure) formed by interacting organisms (such as tiny mosses) or tissues (such as a weathered log). But to emphasize the pattern as a system of components while retaining small details, I divided the area into 9-18 individual, square frames. I enlarged and rejoined the frames into a grid, the shape of which varied according to the structure photographed. The area covered by any single frame of film was based on the size of the pattern photographed. Each frame must itself convey a certain amount of “information,” and when all the frames are rejoined, a larger pattern must emerge. Topography not evident in any one frame jumps out in the reconstructed image.
In a way, the images are like looking through a dissecting scope, a type of microscope used to look at the surface of things with reflected light. Magnification is typically from six to 40 times. As with other types of magnifying lenses, the greater the magnification, the smaller the field of view. The consequent problem, faced by astronomers with their telescopes, as well as by microscopists, is how to achieve both deep magnification and the big picture. This conundrum is usually solved by piecing together many small views to build up an image of the larger structure, the strategy employed here.
In another sense, each image can be thought of as decomposed into “quadrats” (the squares), a sampling strategy used by scientists to obtain data suitable for statistical treatment. The size and number of quadrats must reflect the distribution of pattern being sampled. If the quadrats are too small or too few, they will miss the emergent structure formed by the components. If they are too large, small patterns will be overlooked. Pattern recognition algorithms are used to find the information. But these, too, rely on adding components until no more patterns emerge. Whether we think of groups of components as reconstructed or as dissected, we must recognize the interactions of components to make sense of the whole.
In making these photographs, I was careful to avoid recognizable scale references, so the eye finds it easy to oscillate between seeing the images as closeups and interpreting them as something else, something much larger. Am I looking at a Landsat photo or a patch of moss? Is that a log or the Grand Canyon? We can ask these questions exactly because the structures of nature are deeply similar, regardless of scale. Through pleasant confusion, we directly experience a fundamental feature of the universe.
Carol Selter
January, 2000