Numerology

So this is how our ideas have progressed so far at the start of this week. We were interested in the concept of a border as an individual, abstract concept, something that really is only a symbol on a piece of paper, that means something to the person reading it. Our thought processes therefore turned to the idea of nomadic living, but a pre-determined nomadic existence, where each subsequent move would shape the borders of the country. Numbers, much like borders and boundaries are also symbols that when written, really relate to an idea, or amount, and so research began into the idea of numerology (above are some rough notes and sketches), where each number means something symbolically, from 1 to 10. We then translated these entries from 1 to 10 randomly into sets of co-ordinates that, when placed on a 10 x 10 grid, shape the border of the country automatically. By moving clockwise from each point to the next to form the next border, the path of travel and the physical shape of the country are removed from any sense of editorial or aesthetic choice, a form of code, a formula for living, an idea that has followed through for most of this project. Our next line of investigation will determine exactly what each number from 1 to 10 will symbolically mean and represent (to form a manifesto), and also develop a set method of randomly generating co-ordinates, in order to take any aspect of choice out of the user's hands.