Notes on Creation Without Design

Ralph Perrine
2002

I mindlessly filled a blank sheet of paper with random and purposeless markings and bodies of color. Then I stared at it, searching for patterns I could highlight or strengthen…

Everyone enjoys "aimless doodling". We have sometimes seen doodles turn into interesting drawings. I accidentally discovered that I enjoyed this design-less style of art. I would mindlessly fill a blank sheet of paper with random and purposeless markings, scribbles and bodies of color. Then I would stare at it, searching for a pattern that I could highlight or strengthen. Gradually I worked my way around the picture, discovering a pattern, then strengthening or completing it, then discovering another one, then joining two patterns. At some point I would end up with a work that had several characteristics:

It was interesting, pleasing to look at, and harmonious with itself
It had no strong resemblance to objects in this world
It was something that had emerged from an initial situation that had been randomly created

I thoroughly enjoyed the process of searching for, discovering, then elucidating patterns within the color and form I had randomly laid down. But I didn't immediately realize that this was a legitimate and important method of creation.

Then while reading Christopher Alexander's "Timeless Way" I came across his mention of Pacific canoe building. Alexander pointed out that Pacific islanders traditionally do not design canoes per se, instead they carefully follow a set of repetitive tasks. They create canoes that are beautiful and functional, but do not come from a blueprint.

I realized that people have an instinct to search for patterns. We look at the clouds to see if their shapes remind us of some animal. We collect driftwood and then contemplate what item would most naturally emerge from it - perhaps a turtle. We didn't design the turtle. We started with an interesting piece of driftwood - something we had no part in creating, something that occurred from random and natural processes. In the shape and pattern of the driftwood, we see that a turtle could feasibly emerge from it. We then follow a relatively simple set of repetitive tasks to bring out the final creation.

There is a sense of "looking at what is there", and then deciding what to create from it. This is different from design driven creation, or creation by design. It is more like excavation.

This type of creation starts with an existing set of characteristics embodied in an entity of some sort: a tree, a cloud, a piece of driftwood, or...a company, process, system or industry. We then search this existing set of characteristics for guidance of what to do next. What do we excavate? What do we elucidate? What forces, intersections and patterns should we articulate?

Implementing The New

When we implement a new product, building or new technology within a community or organization - in short, any change - we probably should follow this same process of adaptive creation. Look first at what is already there. Then decide what should be created from it. Then go through the tasks required to bring the new creation to reality.

I soon realized that adaptive creation was related to what I was doing when I created drawings that depicted systems, technological components, processes, organizational dynamics, or economic relationships or the activities within an industry.

I was contemplating an existing situation that I had no part in creating. I was looking for patterns, and then articulating them with color and form so anyone could more readily perceive their nature, their components and the forces that drove their inner workings and inter-relationships.

In almost every case, I was also often suggesting a new, slightly altered arrangement of the situation - and a plan of activities that would lead to the creation of a new situation.

Creating the Initial Randomness

Can the creation of the initial randomness be natural? Yes I believe that it can by mimicking movements that are found in nature. The wind makes broad sweeps that leave marks or patterns on the ground. Certain objects or events repeat, often with patterns of branching and convergence. All of these activities occur in nature, caused by the wind, the waters of a river, and the growth of living things.

Repetitive Tasks for Articulating Existing Patterns

These are some of the tasks that I found myself repeating when drawing or painting without design:

Giving dimensionality: creating shadow, highlights, a light side and a dark side
Depicting relationships: finding compatibilities, joining, convergence
Adding texture and color
Maintaining balance
Setting higher or lower contrast