INTRODUCTION
The world we know would not exist without form. Formlessness is vapor, ether and thought, all dancing poetries of possibility until given form. Once taken, it is not easily given up but form always acquiesces to entropy; all form reenters the state of formlessness.
This book, along with the four enclosed booklets, constitutes a record of the meditations and inquiries that I have undertaken, collected in the hope of increasing your awareness of various aspects of form. They are also meant to serve as an impetus to explore more, to add your observations to the story of form. My hope is that you will draw all over the main book and hand the booklets over to friends as invitations to ponder, enjoy and continue their inquiry into the depiction and creation of forms. I also imagine the booklets could be opened and the posters hung up as reminders of the many forms “form” can take. Potentially these reminders will spark a new language of form in classrooms among artists, designers, architects or even dancers, writers, or any of the various disciplines engaged in making.
Over the last eight years, as I drew every form I saw, I was more accurately "feeling" these forms, as so much of what we understand about form is through touch not sight. So often, we preface sight over touch. This is akin to heading off into the wilderness and bringing nothing but water. There is no need to starve ourselves, we should pack well, aim to succeed and find new lands or planets as that may be. That necessitates rethinking or at least examining what we have already learned, accepted or assumed about the depiction of form and realigning our attention. The lens we peer through should be brushed off, reshaped and focused on the wild potential of form in view of new technologies and awareness that is raised due to these inventions. Even more simply—as beacons of our modern society, we ourselves, our bodies can be tuned and made to perceive more, thereby sharing the nuance of our awareness with others in our depiction of form.
I have met with cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, mathematicians, dancers, musicians, biologists and countless artists during the formation of these books. Their insights have helped to map out many of the paths I have explored, they have cleared up several misunderstandings I began with and they have comforted me by opening up even more questions—some of which remain unanswered. Ultimately their consideration of what is form, what is useful and what is needed, have greatly expanded my breadth of understanding. I am grateful for their generosity and guidance.
This exploration has many more lives and I thank you for choosing to join me on this journey. How we understand form, as sensing humans, while connected to our communities’ shape and needs will greatly affect the future of our society and the forms it takes. I look forward to seeing your visions of the future.