Dot Combinations
Dot Combinations has two equal halves: a fixed system and a human response.
The system provides the structure — a circle at a constant scale, a defined field of space, and a palette of eight colours: the seven colours of the spectrum, plus black. Each colour is mixed by eye and built from multiple printed layers, creating subtle material variation while remaining anchored to its chromatic identity.
Humans provide meaning.
commissioning a dot combination
You choose:
• a grid format
• colours from the fixed palette
• the arrangement of those colours
These choices activate one of the system’s many possible configurations and offers the opportunity to find personal meaning within a combination. The system is constant and impassive, but the person engaging with it is not. The meaning that arises from a given combination is formed from the associations, preferences, and interpretations brought by the participant and will necessarily vary from person to person, according to their beliefs and experiences.
Access the dot combinations selector tool
What the system produces
Your selections determine the configuration that will be realised as a physical artwork. The work remains grounded in the system — stable, repeatable, and open to variation — while the viewer brings significance to the outcome.
Why choice is part of the work
The system allows for choice, but it does not interpret it.
Meaning is created through engagement: the structure provides the possibilities, and the participant brings the significance. The artwork exists in the space where these two forces meet.