> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.museumofone.art/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Adjacency & Contamination Mapper - Structural Relationship Calculator - URL: https://www.museumofone.art/the-adjacency-contamination-mapper/ - Published: 2026-01-26T16:51:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-21T09:53:56.000Z - Description: The Adjacency & Contamination Mapper models relations between paired works through PIC, with explicit inputs, calculation rules and interpretive limits. - Author: Dorian Vale - Tags: #DiagnosticTool ## Experiment with this research tool Individuals and institutions interested in experimenting with this tool are welcome to [contact Museum of One](mailto:research@museumofone.art?subject=Museum%20of%20One%20research%20tool%20access). On request, I can send the GitHub repository or a copy of the tool itself. Please name the tool and describe your intended research use. [← Research Tools and Experiments](https://www.museumofone.art/analytical-diagnostic-tools/) · [Research Programmes ↗](https://www.museumofone.art/research-programmes/) **Research tool record.** This page documents the tool and its method. The interactive application is not embedded, and this page does not accept material for analysis. [Summary ↓](#record-at-a-glance) · [Procedure ↓](#procedure-at-a-glance) · [Worked example ↓](#worked-example) · [Citation ↓](#citation-and-revision) ## Record at a glance - **Purpose:** Inspect assumptions about dominance, flattening, and narrative pressure in a proposed pairing. - **Responsibility:** Dorian Vale; maintained by Museum of One. - **Tool version:** No numbered tool release is specified in the public record. - **Method reference:** Researcher-defined attributes and relational parameters, followed by fixed calculations and an inspectable log. - **Research status:** Experimental rule-based model; design documented. - **Documentation revised:** 17 October 2026\. This dates the record, not a new tool release. **Evidence status:** Repeatable calculations demonstrate consistency within selected rules, not validated effects on viewers or works. The Adjacency & Contamination Mapper is a diagnostic thinking instrument for examining relations between two works. It asks what a pairing may impose on each work through proximity, sequence, contrast, and scale. The term contamination names the risk that a relation may overwrite a work’s distinct presence; it is not a judgment that contact between works is inherently undesirable. ## What it does The documented design accepts researcher-defined structural attributes for each work and parameters for their relation, including distance, overlap, and sequence. Fixed formulas produce a profile of modelled relational pressures, with a calculation log that makes the operations inspectable. - **Dominance:** a modelled imbalance in the relation between the works. - **Amplification:** the possibility of mutual reinforcement or escalation. - **Flattening:** pressure to treat distinct works as interchangeable evidence of one theme. - **Narrativization:** pressure to turn a pairing into a shared story. - **Resolution pressure:** an expectation that the relation should culminate in a synthesis or conclusion. ## How the method works The original design separates inputs, calculation steps, indices, and a summary. A researcher can inspect how a changed input changes the result. Any optional assisted visual observations belong to a separate, non-deterministic layer and must not be treated as the source of the fixed calculations. The useful record includes the chosen attributes and formulas, not only the final profile. ## Procedure at a glance 1. 01 / PROCEDUREDeclare attributes and rules 2. 02 / PROCEDURESet relational parameters 3. 03 / PROCEDUREInspect the calculation log 4. 04 / REVIEWReview assumptions against the works Procedure outline, not a report of an executed analysis. Schematic illustrations explain the documented steps; they are not application screenshots, measured profiles or research findings. ## Worked example **Illustration only.** This constructed example is not a software run, validation result, or report of participant findings. *Constructed comparison: keep the two works, their assigned attributes, scale, and sequence fixed. Increase only their spacing in a second model configuration.* - **Declare the inputs:** Retain both configurations and identify which input represents spacing. Researcher-assigned attributes remain judgments even when their values stay fixed. - **Trace the calculation:** If a reported index changes, identify the formula and intermediate operation responsible. No formula or numerical result is supplied in this illustration, so no index value is asserted. - **Limit the conclusion:** A changed model result would show sensitivity to spacing under those rules. It would not prove reduced contamination, greater independence, or a different visitor response. **What this establishes:** The worked audit specifies what must be recorded to make a comparison inspectable. Any numerical demonstration would also need the exact formula set, input values, and calculation log. ## Why it belongs to Post-Interpretive Criticism PIC’s objection to interpretive possession also concerns the relations a display constructs. A pairing can make one work serve as the explanation of another or require both to resolve into a single account. The Mapper makes those pressures explicit enough to question. It does not decide whether the works should be paired; that decision remains a curatorial responsibility. ## Scope and limits Repeatable arithmetic establishes consistency within a model, not the truth of its categories. Researcher-assigned values and selected formulas remain assumptions. The outputs are not predictions of viewer response, direct measurements of an encounter, or proof that a pairing causes harm. They are prompts for examining an arrangement against the works and the available evidence. ## Related research [Experimental Curatorial Space](https://www.museumofone.art/experimental-curatorial-space-phenomenological-aesthetics-experience-environment-simulator/) broadens the inquiry to environmental conditions. [Encounter Differential](https://www.museumofone.art/encounter-differential/) separates the record of a viewing situation from an interpretation of that record. ## Citation and revision Suggested citation. Select and copy the following text: Vale, Dorian. The Adjacency & Contamination Mapper - Structural Relationship Calculator. Museum of One, 2026\. Research tool record; documentation revised 17 October 2026\. https://www.museumofone.art/the-adjacency-contamination-mapper/ **Methodological reference:** [Post-Interpretive Method](https://www.museumofone.art/post-interpretive-method-how-to-practice-restraint-in-front-of-a-work-of-art/). This supplies ethical and methodological context, not evidence that this instrument has been validated. **Revision note · 17 October 2026\.** Added the record summary, procedure diagram, constructed example, evidence-status distinction, and suggested citation. This is a documentation revision. No new software release, participant findings, or validation result is announced. 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