Essays on the Game of Chess

Diagrams

Chess Set

Diagrams on Blackboard

As one of the works in the pursuit of rendering functions visible, “Essays on the Game of Chess” seeks to transform the formal structures of mathematical phenomena, as expressed through a game with fixed rules and numerous representational layers, into a structure stripped of all non-essential additions, focusing solely on indicators and functions.

The game of chess, which has been frequently used in the field of art history, was selected for this piece due to its openness to both artistic and mathematical interpretations, as well as the numerous associations it carries. This work is one of the outcomes of the effort to make forms of relationships visible rather than plastic forms.

This first diagram, which is part of the analysis of the formal structure of the game, involves the re-symbolization of 6 types of game pieces and their placements on the game board.

A new symbolic series, independent of extra-game representations, was created by considering the functional roles of game pieces within the game itself.

Unicode was utilized to name the symbols.

The game board was designated as a Cartesian system.

A total of 32 game pieces, 6 types for each of the two opposing sides, were arranged on the board according to the rules of chess.

This arrangement was marked as Cartesian expressions.

At the center of the space lies a chessboard expressed through geometric coordinates, devoid of all cultural representations, alongside pawns reduced to abstract formal representations of movement possibilities on the board.

On the blackboard, lines coding these movements through mathematical functions open the game and initiate the calculations of possibilities.

The diagrams and the game board, which are efforts to analyze the formal structure of the game, include the re-symbolization of the six types of game pieces and the specification of their placement on the board, all while still presenting a playable structure.

The formalized system is like a game played with signs. To play the game, we begin with certain initial combinations of signs, and to obtain more advanced combinations of signs, we use certain transformations. – Stephen F. Barker

Artwork Details:

Chess Set

Acrylic Chess Set – Metal Plate

54cm x 54cm x 2cm metal plate

32-piece plexiglass chess set, metal connectors

3cm x 3cm x 3cm acrylic cubes with functional additions of 3cm x 3cm x 1.5cm

Diagrams Regarding the Chess Game on Blackboard

250cm x 100cm blackboard, with diagrams drawn in chalk (by the artist)

Photograps: Zeynep Fırat