GEOMETRISM

GEOMETRIC ART & DESIGN...INCLUDING ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, FASHION, NATURE...

ARTICLE: 'From Fauvism to Cubism, to Constructivism and finally to GEOMETRISM 'Geometric Art & Design '

Inspired by the painting 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' by Picassso Georges Braque broke away from the Fauvists in October 1907... The painting of unimaginable barbarity, utterly foreign to Western Art (ancient or modern)...these women with their shrunken expressions & outlandish breasts which seem to have been hewn-out with an axe. Unbearable! Cutting short of an explanation that might of been advanced by the Creator...Braque exclained: 'Listen Pablo! It is as though we were supposed to exchange our usual diet for one of Wicks & Kerosene!' This comment was probably an allusion to the fire-eaters who performed in the Paris streets & squares and was destined to be inscribed in the annals of Art History.
But Braque was no less shaken in is own artistic activity. In 1908 he exhibited 'Houses at L'Estaque' & other works (refused by the Salon d'Autmne) at the Kanweiller Gallery which inspired the critic Louis Vauxcelles (the nominal father of Fauvism) to make the following remark: 'Mr. Braque is a very daring young man...Picasso's and Derain's example have toughened him up. He reduces Everything...places, figures and houses into Geometric Diagrams...in fact into Cubes'
A page had been turned in the artist's life. Cubism became the adventure of two men until the outbreak of the First World War. When Braque died on August 31 1963 having left a vast quantity of work to posterity he was given the honours of a National Funeral. Andre Malraux (the Minister of Culture at the time)emphatically proclaimed: 'He is as much at home in the Louvre as the Angel is on the Cathedral of Rheims', a belated (if official) gesture to express an acceptance of 20th-Century Art.

As Revolutionary as it was Cubism was dwarfed by the most Revolutionary movement in the history of art: The Constructivists emanating from Russia with Malevich, Lisitsky, Tatlin and many others that were not just artists but designers, engineers & architects!

We are now in the 21st Century and the future is very challenging in which Geometric Art & Design surely must play a pivotal role...GEOMETRISM has come of age!
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Recent trends...
Ready to explore one of the hottest trends for 2013? This month, trend forecaster Victoria Redshaw describes Fraction, a direct and angular look comprising interlocking shapes that attempts to instill a new order in our lives. Having witnessed a period of deconstruction socially, financially and politically, we begin to put the parts back together again, often in unexpected formations... The fractions join to make a new whole, a new order a New Normal! And this applies re-inserting parts, resulting in an altered understanding of an objects use. Creatives are also attempting to view the world from many different perspectives, and this leads to a renewed interest in Cubist artworks.... effectively breaking up, analyzing, and re-assembling objects into abstracted forms as though observed from a multitude of viewpoints. This technique will emerge strongly in furniture design, with an investigation into complex abstracted surface patterns and structures. Interlocking shapes and patterns are absolutely key to this trend, which has strong geometric and mathematical building blocks, enabling an investigation into modularity, mirroring and repetition. Many products are puzzle-like in their structure or surface pattern, and a huge focus on the construction of pieces makes this a fascinating new aesthetic.
Jasna Mujkic's Umbra coffee table is a wonderful example. Made by joining tiny 'Penrose Proto-tiles' to create an abstract tree shape, the irregular construction nevertheless appears rational and ordered. This trend also has strong Scandinavian overtones... For patterns, take inspiration from the Cubist paintings of Juan Gris and George Braque. Embrace Mondrian-esque grid compositions. Explore overlapping and interlinking geometrics rectangles, circles, triangles and diamonds.
In Fraction, repetitions of small-scale geometric motifs are key. Investigate the interlocking and repeating motif paintings of Peter Hugo McClure. Material blocking is key, and graphic typographical patterns play an important role too. Its shapes comprise pure forms that are simple, smooth and solid. Though often angular, with pronounced references to geometry and mathematics, curvaceous shapes are also present... think Finn Juhl furniture.
Modular and self-assembly qualities allow consumers to interact with products, be creative and take ownership of the final stages of the design process...Subdued interior schemes provide a moment of stillness in our hectic modern lives. Precise styling and extreme unadorned, pared-down purity delivers clarity and calmness. A serene certainty can be found by following the aesthetic rules of the New Normal.
PS: Victoria Redshaw is a leading analyst at trend forecasting agency Scarlet Opus. For information on all of the trends from Scarlet Opus, join the members area on the company's blog.
http://www.scarletopus.com
http://www.trendsblog.co.uk
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Defining the Circle: 'Pi is Transcendental' by Eve Andersson
The endless number cannot be expressed by any algebraic equation. No pattern has been found
in its digits, Yet it cannot be proven in a finite amount of time that no pattern exists in an infinite number of digits. Pi goes beyond our reality.The non-existence of humans would not preclude the existence of pi. For the circle will always exist in the shape and orbit of a planet, In the path of a wave. And where there is a circle...There is pi Intrinsically embedded in it. Pi is mysterious; It evades all attempts of capture. It is a line of digits like an endless snake that you keep pulling at without ever reaching its tail. Pi is perfect; Each seemingly random digit is exactly where it belongs. Whether a circle is as big as the universe, Or as small as a quark, Its diameter fits around its boundary exactly pi times. Because pi is found in waves, colour, every sound is an expression of pi. Because pi is found in circles, the moon the sun, Every planet, and Every star is an expression of pi. Because pi is found in each atom, pi is present in all physical sensation.
Pi is Absolute Beauty.
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NO TWO SNOW FLAKES ARE ALIKE! (BY ANONYMOUS AUTHOR)
Are any two snow-flakes alike?
Now there's a question I hear a lot. It's a funny question, almost like a Zen koan...if two identical snowflakes fell, my inquisitive friend, who would know? And can you ever be sure that no two are alike, since you cannot check them all to find out?
Although there is indeed a certain level of unknowability to the question of snowflake alikeness, as a physicist I find that I can address this issue with some confidence. As I will demonstrate, the answer depends to a large degree on what you mean by the question. (Yes, physics does occasionally have its Zen-like qualities.)
The short answer to the question is yes: It is indeed extremely unlikely that two complex snowflakes will look exactly alike. It's so extremely unlikely, in fact, that even if you looked at every one ever made you would not find any exact duplicates.The long answer is a bit more involved... it depends on just what you mean by 'alike,' and on just what you mean by 'snowflake.' Let's look at the possibilities....
Nano-snowflakes can be exactly alike. Some things in Nature are exactly alike. For example, our understanding of elementary particles indicates that all electrons are exactly, precisely the same. This is one of the cornerstones of quantum physics, and if you think for a bit you will see that this is a profound statement. Electrons are true elementary particles, in that they have no component parts; thus they are all exactly alike.
A water molecule is considerably more complex than an electron, and not all water molecules are exactly alike. If we restrict ourselves to water molecules which contain two ordinary hydrogen atoms and one ordinary 16O atom, then again physics tells us that all such water molecules are exactly alike. However about one molecule out of every 5000 naturally occurring water molecules will contain an atom of deuterium in place of one of the hydrogens, These rogues are not exactly the same as their more common cousins. A typical small snow crystal will contain some of these Rogue Molecules which will be different from the rest. These unusual molecules will be randomly scattered throughout the snow crystal, giving it a unique design. The probability that two snow crystals would have exactly the same layout of these molecules is very, very, very small.
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