T57

T57, 2025

Typewritten with carbon paper and ink ribbon on copy paper and tracing paper, with wallpaper cover
42.6 × 30.3 cm

T57 originates from the permutation diagram conceived by Sol LeWitt for Seth Siegelaub’s Xerox Book (1968), in which the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 identify four directions of line and generate the twenty-four possible permutations of these four elements.

T57 rewrites these twenty-four numerical permutations with the typewriter and introduces an independent chromatic system. The first sheet is always typed with a black ink ribbon on white paper. On its reverse, a sequence of eight colours is repeated over three cycles.

The second sheet, typed on tracing paper, introduces two further chromatic sequences. On the recto, red, orange and green are repeated over eight cycles. On the verso, a sequence of eight colours is distributed across the twenty-four permutations, with white replacing blue.

The interaction between the numerical permutations and the chromatic sequences generates twenty-four distinct configurations. No grid is repeated throughout the book.

The book opens with a visual key presenting the twenty-four numerical permutations together with the chromatic sequences used in the work, establishing the system from which every subsequent grid is produced.

Through the superimposition of the two sheets, the transparency of the tracing paper creates shifting relationships between colour and density, while the underlying combinatorial structure remains fixed.