Chance, Order, Change 2 (Ultramarine Blue)
1976
Martin, Kenneth
Chance is an essential component of Kenneth Martin's series of 'Chance and Order' drawings and paintings. He made these works by taking a squared grid, which was numbered round the edges where the lines intersected the boundary. These numbers were then written on small pieces of paper, put in an envelope and selected at random. Each pair of numbers was joined on the grid to make a line, therefore allowing a complex rhythm to evolve. Martin would decide on the 'characteristics' of each line: its length, scale, thickness and place in the order of sequence.
The 'Chance and Order' series prompted Martin to realise that he could make a work 'independent of my personality. I could be the spectator. Hence 'Chance and Order'. These works were not made by knowledge and erudition. All was discarded except a numbered field, the character of the activity of the drawing of lines, and my sense of art.'
Hilary Lane