Grid Bloc Square – Six Folds is the last edition of Haegue Yang’s Grid Bloc Square trilogy, following Grid Bloc Square – Four Folds and Five Folds. The artists’ books, published in collaboration with Berlin-based Korean illustrator Jeong Hwa Min, take the form of a glued stack of graph paper sheets with various patterns of four, five, and six folds in four colors. Inspired by the language of Islamic symmetric geometry with a distinct orientation toward cyclical movement, Grid Bloc Square – Six Folds is based on the principle of a six-fold pattern. The use of a geometric subdivision of a circle into six parts creates a variety of polygonal and floral patterns, demonstrating the immense potential of the pattern to evolve.
Yang initiated the first edition of Grid Bloc in 2000 as a graph paper block, and it has been published and distributed as a stationery item ever since. The first Grid Bloc (2000) was in A4 size and the composition of its horizontal and vertical lines varied, according to unit intervals or subdivisions, as well as colors that were not found in regular graph papers. This was followed by the next edition, titled Grid Bloc A3 (2013), which deviated from the 90-degree angle of common graph papers by introducing the lines with a ‘three dimensional’ effect or in isometric arrangement.
The elaboration of Grid Bloc simultaneously reflects and enables the development of Yang’s paper collage series Trustworthies (2010-ongoing), which are made of security patterns from the inside of envelopes with the backdrop of a collaged Grid Bloc. By questioning expectations of what is usual, Grid Bloc, with its deviations in color, angle, form, and line divisions, offers new alternatives to existing standardized products in the market.
Grid Bloc Square – Six Folds, 2018
In collaboration with Jeong Hwa Min
Edited: Barbara Wien
Graph paper pad, offset print, 96 pages printed on one side, glue binding, cover font by Wolfgang Breuer
32 x 29.7 cm
Ed. 500
Courtesy of the artists
ISBN: 978-3-943888-14-0