Gabriel Orozco: The Samurai Tree Invariants

Taking the Samurai move (sometimes also called the Knight's move) from the game of chess as his starting point, conceptual artist Gabriel Orozco examines all of the possible mutations within a self-defined spatial and color system in this extremely elaborate, and also quite elegant, artist's book. In each of the 672 digital prints reproduced here, a circle is drawn in the center, and moving out from this point, a sequence of increased or decreased circles is also drawn, until the limits of the square are reached. Each of these original prints is roughly 20 inches square, and seen together, they calculate all the possible movements and variations within the rules that Orozco set, which he called "The Samurai Tree." This book spells out an almost incomprehensible complexity in white red, blue and gold.