Research: Spiral Field
Spiral Field is a rule-based drawing system where a single repeated gesture generates a field. A spiral form is repeated across the surface, accumulating into dense structures that create compression and release.
Conference acceptance
Accepted for SCIN 2026
(Sustainable Creative Art: Inspiration from Nature (SCIN) - 2nd edition. 10, Nov / 12, Nov 2026, National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, Italy)
Author: Singh, Harmeet
Abstract
This paper introduces Spiral Field, a drawing-based archival system where meaning evolves dynamically through repetition, accumulation, and spatial arrangement. Developed via a rule-based process of iterative mark-making, the project initiates with a single modular stroke that expands progressively into larger, complex visual fields. Within this system, each watercolor mark functions as a localized gesture, generating emergent structures that constantly fluctuate between rigid order and organic variation. Rather than treating the archive as a static, fixed repository of information, Spiral Field conceptualizes the archival process as an open-ended mechanism susceptible to continuous change and reconfiguration.
The project directly engages with the "Intelligent Archives" theme by deploying sequencing, repetition, and modular organization to generate visual memory. While executed manually using watercolor, the artwork strictly adheres to a system-based logic. Marks are repeated, grouped, and varied, creating patterns that can expand across different scales. By doing so, this paper challenges traditional archival models that rely on permanence and fixed classification. Instead, it proposes a fluid framework where meaning arises from the shifting relationships between individual components, questioning whether a drawing must operate as a static object of preservation or if it can exist as a responsive system altered by context, movement, and scale.
Furthermore, the paper explores the project's extension into spatial installation, where individual drawings assemble into larger architectural configurations. In this immersive state, the artwork transitions from a discrete object into a spatialized archive, actively shaped by site conditions and viewer interaction. Positioned at the nexus of fine art drawing, systems thinking, and contemporary archival practice, Spiral Field ultimately offers a generative model of memory predicated on continual recombination.
Keywords: Intelligent Archives, System-Based Drawing, Visual Memory, Spatial Installation, Modular Art, Generative Systems.