Checkers

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"When the oral narratives were recorded or written down in the alphabet, it became possible to discern a pattern, a repetition of signifiers that was not perceptible in spoken discourse" (Ulmer, Internet Invention, p30).

What is this fixation with black and white checkers? Chess is my favorite boardgame; its strategy appeals to me. I used to spend hours playing the game with my brother and friends when I was younger. Dissecting each move and planning alternate moves for each possible move of your opponent is where the true challenge lies. It's not all about what you do or how fast you do it. It's about how many alternatives you can imagine.

Matisse uses checkers in this painting. Perhaps this woman suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder. She may be happy while posing for this painting. She may just be smiling to fill in space. She may actually be very sad inside. Perhaps checkers symbolize balance, cyclical motion, the "ebbs and flows" of life, good and bad, night and day, joy and sadness.

Bridget Riley's Movement In Squares uses black and white checkers to expand and contract a two-dimensional wave. Is it ebb and flow? Is it a vacuum? Is it a fissure? There is something very flat and two-dimensional about checkers. To create a three-dimensional representation requires only that their width be changed. This dynamic suggests checkers to be flexible, easily able to be manipulated, free, products of their environment, perhaps even organic.

Alright, not the best outfit, but it makes for a great image! Which one's the boy and which one's the girl? Can you tell? How can you be so sure? What do all of these checkers mean? How are they connected? What do Matisse, Bridget Riley, Louis Vuitton, Chess and myself have in common?