What is Art ?
[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”159477384X” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Xgr2C18uL._SL160_.jpg” width=”124″] The word ‘Art’ is exceptionally open to personal interpretation, even ignoring its ancient synonymity with magic. Perhaps I am a little old fashioned to define creative Art as ‘the practice of making beautiful things’. I define ‘Beauty’ as ‘patterns that please the senses and inspire the mind and heart’. And even more contentiously, I define the proper purpose of such Art as being the upliftment of the spirit of the Artist and those who are touched by their Art.
In my defense I can only say there is a long tradition of considering Art to have a primarily spiritual purpose. As William Blake said – “Unless the eye catch fire the God will not be seen. Unless the tongue catch fire the God will not be named. Unless the heart catch fire, the God will not be loved. Unless the mind catch fire, the God will not be known.”
How does it relate to Sacred Geometry ?
[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”0465026567″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FWhmVlAJL._SL160_.jpg” width=”112″] Sacred Geometry could more accurately be called Sacred Patterns as its field extends far beyond what most people think of as geometry. As such, the study of the fundamental patterns, and what causes them to be harmonious or dissonant, is at the core of Sacred Geometry. The fundamental patterns themselves are not what we normally think of as exceptionally beautiful because they are too simple, and too predicable to fully satisfy our craving for illumination. As human beings we habitually spend most of our time in consciousness of the ‘human level’ of experience, concerned with human beings and their comings and goings, the patterns of which are many quantum leaps of complexity removed from the simplest geometrical shapes. But when one gazes on ones Beloved’s face, whether we know it or not, we are still responding subconsciously to the subtle geometries that have been sublimated within the archetypal form of their face by countless eons of evolution.
As with musical improvisation where a skilled Artist dances around the melodic structure with apparent abandonment, the true masters of their craft are always aware of the pattern to which they are relating, even when they deliberately avoid direct reference to it. So I believe that all Art plays with the hiding and revealing of the primordial patterns that are still drenched in the power that gives rise to universes.
Geometrical Art in Modern Culture
[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”3822837032″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xG5A2hd4L._SL160_.jpg” width=”111″] Perhaps the most obvious influence of Sacred Geometry in modern western culture is the infiltration of geometrical designs into all forms of Art. This is especially noticeable in the Rave/Techno/Psychedelic scene where basic Sacred geometry designs have become popular in decor, clothing, posters, and even tattoos. But there has always been a geometrical awareness in the visual arts, if only because the mastery of perspective is so necessary when depicting 3D objects in a 2 dimensional medium.
M.C. Escher’s made the exploration of this a major focus of his work through his visual paradoxes and illusions.
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More coming soon …