Olal Nicolai- Rewind Forward

This pattern composed by Russian artist and designer Olaf Nicolai, was first seen on the cover of rewind magazine, and later became the inspiration for a building facade. It is comprised of several components which are repeated to create a continuous matt without gaps, by adhering to a strict grid formation. the components make up a unit which is repeated and adheres to the grid. The vertical lines of the grid are evenly spaced, however the black horizontal lines (whilst also being evenly spread) are manipulated and stretched to create an elongated surface. The perpendicular lines in this pattern, are created by using a secondary grid (red) of vertical lines, which distorts the individual cell at particular points.

The various shades of each componeny become significant in the illusion of created a 3 dimensional structure, where areas of the pattern are extruded away from the flat surface:



1. The pattern in its simplest form: the secondary grid lines are realigned to the the primary black grid lines:



2. The regimental vertical lines of the grid are respaced at various distances, and instantly the pattern is distorted:



3. The horizontal lines are then altered in a similar method, but this system also introduces the idea of pulling the secondary red grid in a different direction, away from the original lines:



4. This system tests the idea of the horizontal and vertical grid by skewing the vertical lines to various distances. Each unit is unique from the next:



5. The horizontal lines of the grid are also skewed, and the homogenous pattern becomes heterogeneous:



6. In addition to the manipulation of the grid, this pattern can be altered by playing with the various shades of each component. For Nicolai, the shades are essential to creating a consistent and 3 dimensional effect in this pattern. The first of the mirrors the shades of certain units (picked at random), whereas the second is a chaotic alteration of the shades of each component:



7. To test the methodololy used in stage 5, the vertica lines of the grid were skewed at a more extreme angle. This resulted in the overlapping of black and red grid lines, which causes the shades of various stretched components to collide and overlap. A new rule was developed which would control this problem, by making darker shades dominent to the lighter shades:



8. The vertical lines were angled further to stage 7, which resulted in the chaotic collision of compenents. In this stage, the 3 dimensional form of the pattern disappears and reappears in various locations on the field of the pattern:



9. By returning to an earlier stage, where chaotic overlapping of areas of the pattern had not yet occurred, further methods could be tested. In this stage, the bifurcation and bending of the horizontal grid lines was used. It becomes difficult to assess the location of the grid lines, partly due to the overlapping of grid lines, but also because the grid lines separate and move the connection points of each individual unit to different locations. A new rule was also incorporated which stated that if the grid line bifurcates, one half of the unit follows one grid line and one half adheres to the other, resulted in completely distorted units:



10. The vertical grid lines were altered in conjunction with stage 9:



11. As previously stated, the importance of the shaded components is that it is fundamental to the 3 dimensionality of the pattern. In these tests, not only are new shades incorporated at random (or wherever i decide that they should be), but also lines are introduced and removed where shades collide to create larger and new components within the pattern