Truchet Projects

Tetradic Truchet
Animation, 3 min.
Color, 16:9, Stereo
Hand-drawn, animated video.
Graph paper and colored pencil.

Photographed and edited digitally. It utilizes the truchet as the base shape for an exploration of randomness and an abstract expression inspired by Appalachian barn quilt paintings. A truchet shape is a square bisected diagonally. A tetradic color scheme uses four colors. The shape is a right-angle triangle with four possible spatial iterations. It is often combined and multiplied to make complex patterns for quilts and geometric designs. The film deconstructs the traditional patterning of this shape by combining the truchet shapes in randomized arrangements. The random placement of the truchet tiles creates new and exciting designs free from the constraint of symmetry and discernible pattern. Animation for Tetradic Truchet is generated through placing a new configuration of truchets on every frame of the film. The contrast between shape and color, played back at 24 frames per second, creates a flickering, fluid pattern that only exists temporally.

Truchet 1
Animation, 1 Min., Silent, Color
1:1 embedded in a 16:9 frame 

A structuralist film study of the infinite design possibilities provided by the truchet tile. Using a simple truchet tile as a pattern for tessellation, Truchet 1 generates a thrilling, infinitely random series of patterns. Hand-drawn shapes reveal the material of both the truchet's medium and process. Grain of the paper and imperfect pencil fills add to the film's deep textural aesthetic. The frenetic pace of Truchet 1 is derived from the editing alone. The tiles themselves are static, in both position and time. The illusion of animation is created through dynamic contrasts between the opposing orientation of individual tiles. The inherent plasticity of digital video allows for fine, frame accurate swapping of tiles. A flickering graphic conflict occurs onscreen when tiles are randomly juxtaposed. Positive and negative space collide, swap places and seem to swirl and pulse across the viewer's eyes, generating the optical illusion of animation.