‘Let no one ignorant of geometry enter‘
Tradition has it that this phrase was engraved at the door of Plato’s Academy, the school he had founded in ancient Athens’s suburb.
In a draft translation: ‘Let no one unjust sneak in here‘, because geometry is equality/fairness and justice/righteousness, and ‘The knowledge at which geometry aims is the knowledge of the eternal.‘ – another quote referred to Plato.
As an artist – through geometric art – this was what I wanted to achieve, to make the incomprehensible comprehensible, turning the unconscious to conscious.
But it seems ‘Nature’ doesn’t know anything about geometry, justice and righteousness, but definitively has a set of rules which are works in an universal way, independently from space and time. This is what I should call truth and I suppose was Plato’s views too, when he said: ‘the knowledge of the eternal‘. Something to worth examining and making efforts to understand.
Those who works on themselves (a.k.a. virtue) and examines the nature – founds its rules and often founds it beautiful. For example the famous golden ratio – for the first sight – it seems true, but it differs a slightly bit all the time what you could compare with in the nature – and this difference is important – it seems e.g. a seashell haven’t applied any academic course yet – just have been grown in an optimal way – followed by the rules of the nature and not the rules of the golden ratio (or any other human projection).
So you have to keep questioning yourself all the time to get the right answer.
In this European tradition/culture – we were built upon, sadly it seems, just till nowadays.
This culture is seems to be sinking.
More and more geometric styled artworks appears recently, we could say, geometric art has a renaissance nowadays.
Are we living in such an enlightened society so far?
And this society manifests through these geometric art-forms?
Rather the opposite seems to be the situation.
It seems those geometric shapes just signs of the renewed ‘tribe-culture’. I am afraid these are the signs of our sinking civilization, which was built upon the rational mind.
Just keep questioning these (often young) artists about their art e.g. – Why do you make and render artworks with these fashioned ‘platonic’ geometric objects? –
The answer most of the time is just because it looks ‘cool’. There are no rationalized answer, just ‘feelings’.
Right, but why is it ‘cool’?
– Because it touches ‘the mystery, the unknown secrets of nature...’ sounding a typical conformist’s answer.
We have hoped we were getting closer and closer, but unfortunately no, it means the opposite (we are living in the post-truth era – what we should not forget?)
The nature could be a frightening place to live, could be chaotic and seems without any logic, but a proportioned ratio, or let’s say a platonic pyramid form is nothing but mystery:
– It is the pure expression of the rational mind and faith in civilization which could save us from sliding back to the dark age, the territory of the ever fighting tribes.
Pretty dark visions for the future and it doesn’t sound too optimistic assuming that the artist is a visionary too…
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