ABSTRACT
Drawings exist on a page, a surface real or virtual. They can either float in a near-infinity, or exist within a visible boundary. They show things in a two-dimensional format utilizing contrast to either illustrate two-dimensional shape and area or suggest three-dimensional form and space. Rulers and their units of measurement are so nearly ubiquitous that people can scarcely imagine them as not pre-existing. The world of the infinite grid and the ruler, by extension, is an unbounded world. Infinity is a scary proposition for human beings. Distinguishing relationships between the familiar and the alien occupies much of the history of humanity and architecture. The usefulness of the Cartesian grid resides in its abstraction and purity of method. The grid can provide a common expression for things with or without intrinsic form or shape. Algebraic formulae are just one example of how people gain form through the grid.
