“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit... the arbitrariness of the constraint only serves to obtain precision of execution.”

-Igor Stravinsky

 

Is movement then a paradox or a puzzle? The only way to establish that it is a paradox is by trying and failing to solve the puzzle. But are puzzles necessarily meant to be solved? Can playing with a puzzle help us experience the complexity of movement better?

​

I invite you to play the following 2D jigsaw puzzle game on a computer. Unlike a standard puzzle, it doesn't have spatial constraints, thus eliminating a precise solution that Stravinsky champions ironically as having a free spirit. In this experiment, one can play with even a single type of piece and move endlessly, with the possibility to spawn and interlock the pieces if one wishes to. What kind of thinking does such free movement trigger?