Wind Study (Hilbert Curve)

2017
Burnt adhesive, aquarelle pencil and graphite on paper
90 x 55 in. / 228 x 140 cm.

Jitish Kallat’s elemental, meditative works titled Wind Study (Hilbert Curve) and Wind Study (Gosper Curve) derive their form from clusters of Hilbert Curves and Gosper Curves, which are continuous fractal-like, space-filling curves named after mathematicians David Hilbert and Bill Gosper respectively. Each of the drawings are formed by a single curling line that extend across various dimensions of curves. Each small fragment of the curve is overlaid, one line at a time, with an inflammable liquid and set aflame. Within moments the ignited portion of the line undergoes phase transition from liquid to semisolid to fire, to finally arise as dark fumes that record for posterity the movement of the wind at that moment in time. Functioning like exploratory instruments to eavesdrop on invisible atmospheric flows, Kallat describes these evocative drawings as “transcripts of the silent conversation between wind and fire”