267The uniform beat of a simple row or series, on the other hand,
is the simplest visual or kinaesthetic articulation of a tempo-
ral progression, as shown by the ticking of a clock. In the grid,
the serial principal can be regarded as an expansion of the
row onto a plane surface, and the space lattice its expansion
into three dimensions. As a neutral form of subdivision of a
field, the grid – like the series – generates an initially empty
basis for an ordering overview and for various positioning.
It offers the freedom to ‘fill in’ the field in highly individual
ways, and is hence capable of accommodating highly diverse
forms of overall experience.
In contrast to the hierarchical order of the series, which
proceeds towards a terminus, or culminates in a centre, the
pure series follows an open, egalitarian order. In both cases,
the strict rule yields a certain degree of heterogeneity to indi-
vidual elements, for instance the changing wall colours in an
enfilade, or the individual decor of a series of row houses,
albeit without calling the serial principle into question. Only
against the background of the role of the series does the vari-
ety among individual elements become conspicuous.
The result in one instance of the mechanical repetition
of a purely technical procedure, the series can be grasped in
others as a deliberately repeated arrangement through which
each individual position is strengthened and continuously
heightened in relation to its significance. On the one hand, a
uniform series risks monotony, and can even result in fatigue;
on the other, it is precisely the endless continuation of the
identical that contains an element of irritation or magic, and
has the suggestive impact of a litany or a persistent ostinato.
The optical superimposition of series of posts staggered be-
hind one another in high density generates interference effects
and an impression of vibration. While Giorgio de Chirico elic-
ited expressions of melancholy from arrays of arcades in his
paintings, Étienne-Louis Boullée placed special emphasis on
the effects of > sublimity and > grandeur that could be evoked
by endless rows of columns. Because their open-ended termini