William Mapan

COMPUTE: sinking patterns—Bonance.

This series of eight works is a continuation of Mapan’s interest in exploring the materiality and texture of something that is immaterial – through coding algorithms, or more specifically in this case, JavaScript.

Through the highly delicate imitation of paper texture as background, as well as the variety of saturation, forms and patterns exemplified by the blue colour, Mapan recounts the story of his childhood, when he first learnt how to fill the cartridge of a fountain pen. He recalls the blue ink staining his fingertips as well as sheets of paper, creating a mess, but also random patterns. This series of work alludes to his own childhood as well as the tactile nature of pen, ink and paper, but more broadly to a personal memory that is shared among a collective consciousness.

A theme central to Mapan’s practice is his attempt to inject humanness into the algorithm. Instead of letting computers draw regular patterns and shapes, he achieves this sense of humanness by breaking the regular algorithm and incorporating more organic shapes, so the composition no longer looks sharp and machine-drawn. Similar to a fountain pen which releases more ink with pressure, Mapan incorporates pressure as an element that allows for the computer-like rigidity to become more human-like.