Rectification
Test Subject Uno
- Fold the page into two and crease. The fold can be diagonal. Unfold the page.
- Draw a rectangle of any size such that only one point touches the crease.
- Repeat. In the case that another rectangle will overlap another rectangle, do not cross your line over the other rectangle. Instead, pass over it and continue drawing on the outside of the rectangle.
- If your rectangle makes an acute angle with another rectangle, “shade” in between the rectangles with lines that touch both rectangles.
- End when you think the crease is covered.
- So here was my take on my own instructions…
When I first wrote these instructions, I knew there would be some confusion over rules 3 and 4. However, my hope was that the parts with the most confusion would provide the most insight about the individual artists. So on my quest to find some test subjects, I found very different people–all non-art majors.
One thing that surprised me was that most people refused to fold their paper diagonally. They just liked hamburger or hotdog style. I was also surprised that the definition of “shading” translated directly into “close scribbles” for most people. That was probably a vague word to use in my instructions. I was happy when one person started to think that they were drawing something cool. But most people were a little too focused on making perfect rectangles or following the instructions without any fun. If I could redo this whole project, I would want to make sure the artist is having fun when following instructions and not worrying about “getting things right”.
