The process

This is a research-creation project, and it is just starting. The plan is simple: solve Baldor by hand, exercise by exercise, from the first page to the last. Baldor is the algebra book that sat on every shelf I grew up around. Each solution I finish becomes an open prompt for anyone who wants to draw it.

The X is the unknown. It is also a crossroads and a mark, something that does not stay still. I want to see what happens when many people answer the same equation in their own way. That is the whole idea: a thousand forms of one X.

Method

  1. Pick

    Look through the open exercises and pick the one you like. Any chapter, any topic. The only rule is that it has to still be open.

  2. Interpret

    Use the medium you already know: watercolour, embroidery, photography, code, collage, oil. The solution is a starting point, not a limit.

  3. Join

    Upload your piece through the form. I review it, and then it shows up in the mosaic next to the other interpretations of that exercise.

Field notes

  1. Live

    Today the platform went online: it is live at x.sobekbytes.net, with its code safe and versioned. Along the way I rebranded the emails so they feel like mine and swapped the how-it-works illustrations. The house is standing now, ready to fill with Baldor.

  2. First full run

    The platform now runs end to end: someone uploads their interpretation, I moderate it, and it goes live in the mosaic. It is properly bilingual, with email notices in each person's own language, and I gave it a big design pass. I started loading the Baldor exercises, slowly, at my own pace.

  3. Polished the mosaic, wired real email

    I switched the mosaic to a masonry layout so Baldor's tall exercises show in full, and moved the labels below the image so they stop covering the drawing. I wired the email notifications for real. And I dropped WhatsApp from the project: email only, simpler.

  4. Turned on real Supabase

    I connected Supabase for real and switched off demo mode: the platform stopped being a mockup and now runs on real data. Going to production surfaced some ugly bugs that I fixed one by one. Along the way I made every image come in light, so the project holds up as it grows.

  5. Closed the how it works, hardened the admin

    I finished the three how-it-works illustrations, all mine: solve, transform, join. I hardened the admin panel with its moderation and a dashboard to read the project's pulse at a glance. And I documented the database end to end.

  6. Built the process page, turned language on

    I brought up the process page, which had been a 404 for weeks, with the manifesto, the method and the article. I made the language switch actually work across the whole site. And I redesigned the mosaic and turned the form into a step-by-step wizard.

  7. Pushed the launch a week

    I moved the launch to July 2. I need more room to finish the intake mechanism and seed the first exercises before opening the doors.

  8. Started the web platform

    I went from concept to actually building the platform. I set up a team of agents so it would be born scalable, and poured the identity into the site: the home is up and bilingual. In parallel I started solving Baldor and promoting on Instagram.

  9. Brand typeface and references

    I chose Megrim as the brand typeface: thin, geometric, futuristic. I tilted the palette toward neon green and gathered a set of real collaborative-art references. And I started fixing accents and closing accessibility gaps.

  10. Reorganized and rescheduled

    I moved the project into its own personal folder, out of the institutional one. I rescheduled the campaign to give the buildup room to breathe and give myself time to build the web.

  11. Planning day

    I got all the groundwork ready before coding: confirmed the Instagram account, reorganized the plan day by day, and decided to launch the web and keep adding exercises over time. The work grows as I go.

  12. Visual identity

    I settled the name, A thousand forms of an X, and the organic mosaic. I decided the language, English with Spanish, and steered the style toward anime with a futuristic accent and school-day nostalgia. I defined Elizabeth as the lead character.

  13. The idea

    The idea was born: solve all of Baldor's Algebra and open every exercise to a community's visual interpretation, assembled into a mosaic that grows. My thesis: design turns a universal knowledge into singular and collective memory. To remember is not to archive, it is to interpret.

Research article

Abstract

This project looks at research-creation as a way to explore the aesthetics of mathematics. The corpus is Baldor's Álgebra, solved by hand. The handwritten solution works as a starting gesture, and opening it to other people turns one exercise into many readings. This abstract is a draft; the full article is still in progress.

Keywords

research-creation, mathematical aesthetics, open pedagogy, collective authorship, Baldor

Full version and PDF coming soon.