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| Five Twenty One Twelve Spiral, copr 2012 |
Phi, 1.618, the golden mean, the, the golden ratio, the Fibonacci sequence and Fibonacci spiral, all these are expressions of the same thing. The ancient Greeks used this math to portray perfection in art and architecture, having noticed that it appears again and again in nature from the tiniest seashells to galaxies. Ok I made up the galaxies. But they do follow the Fibonacci spiral. One only has to look at one's own hand to see the application of the Golden mean proportions in the bone lengths of the fingers. Waves at the beach follow this exact spiral shape, as do pineapples, sunflower seed heads, pine cones and every other form of life..
The Greeks were way ahead of their time however, because Fibonacci (aka Leonardo of Pisa) didn't show up until 1202 AD. He talked about rabbit breeding in his book, Liber Abaci. Must have been one of those one-off sort of artist books because the printing press didn't show up for yet another 400 years. I think he shows up in the fifties reincarnated as a piano player. Anyway his imaginary rabbits reproduced at he rate of the Fibonacci sequence as explained here under Origins. What all this has to do with this post I can't say. But I wonder what was really on his mind. Rabbits?
I was drawn to the form itself, and how downright majestic it is. However this spiral is not exactly a pure spiral, it's just a series of quarter circles drawn with one leg of a square as the radius following the Fibonacci pattern of squares and golden rectangles. A true spiral would be drawn with French curves, a continuously expanding curve. But who am I to argue with God. I'm just one of the creeping things.
The Greeks were way ahead of their time however, because Fibonacci (aka Leonardo of Pisa) didn't show up until 1202 AD. He talked about rabbit breeding in his book, Liber Abaci. Must have been one of those one-off sort of artist books because the printing press didn't show up for yet another 400 years. I think he shows up in the fifties reincarnated as a piano player. Anyway his imaginary rabbits reproduced at he rate of the Fibonacci sequence as explained here under Origins. What all this has to do with this post I can't say. But I wonder what was really on his mind. Rabbits?
I was drawn to the form itself, and how downright majestic it is. However this spiral is not exactly a pure spiral, it's just a series of quarter circles drawn with one leg of a square as the radius following the Fibonacci pattern of squares and golden rectangles. A true spiral would be drawn with French curves, a continuously expanding curve. But who am I to argue with God. I'm just one of the creeping things.
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