golden ratio

[daaub]

Golden Ratio, Golden Section, Golden Mean, Divine Proportion, Phi, ect.
1.618 ..


Many painters believe that placing important lines and intersections in conpositions onto these specific areas will make the image more appealing to the viewer. Is this notion also followed in sculpture? Does anyone consciously use this proportion when designing their sculptures?
Nature seems to follow the Fibonacci numbers, golden ratio, so obviously when sculptors attempt to realisticaly reproduce nature, they are following this ratio even if they are not aware or it.


Good description of the Fibonacci Numbers with image examples of it in nature.
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html

For the actual math behind the Golden Ratio:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GoldenRatio.html

"This definition is fairly simple, but the magic starts when you add that larger part to the previous whole because the new whole is again in the same phi ratio to the initial whole, and that new one to the next, and so on. Each time the new length grows out of the old in unchanged proportion."

[ExNihiloStudio]

If math is a model of nature,
then this system might guide a visual representation towards something that might seem very natural,
but math is a big field.
It was discovered I think in the '90's that a Jackson Pollock all over painting could be modeled with fractal geometry. (I remember the NY Times article got the illustration captions reversed). Now analysis using fractal geometry is a test of authenticity for these paintings.
What about quantum physics? It's a math model of nature that is counter intuitive to what we experience in ordinary life.
Renaissance 2-point perspective is based on Euclidean geometry.
So, there are many avenues of investigation available. The only danger is getting undermined by rules that ruin the art.

[oddist]

I have a figure in a box where the box is based on the golden rectangle. Never got a chance to finish the piece. Someday...maybe...

As for math and physics and science...I have found that "physically" balancing a piece of sculpture and arranging the support points so the weight (center of gravity) is as evenly distributed as possible tends to make for a more visually comfortable appearance. (Did that make sense?)

"Art and Visual Perception" by Rudolf Arnheim speaks to alot of the visuals in art. Worth the read. Look inside at the contents at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520026136/103-7634010-1127016?v=glance&n=283155

[G. Murdoch]

Greetings,

Good thread, always liked math and physics. For myself it is important to do the work, then maybe check it against the math, not vice-versa. If I insist on a mathematical layout the piece will be balanced physically and visually, yet may lack soul.

Graham

[fused]

I have long been facinated by the mathematical equivalents discovered in the process of measuring parts of a fabricated sculpture --which occur when you eyeball some parts and carefully measure others-- to fit within the parameters you have defined within the form.

I'm always surprised as the numbers match or add-up to the same figure regardless of measuring or guesstimating the lengths. It's as if some form of mathematical logic is always in play as you make aesthetic choices with the lines as they take shape.

[sculptor]

haystacks

and I've used the golden # in archetectural design on the assumption that it is a comfortable and thereby calming influence

it does seem a tad grounded and on structures i've designed where the ratio is too prominant, it feels clunky and bunkerlike

but, when encorporated in, as counterpoint to, a more freeflowing design, it has the effect of solidifying the whole
eg the doorway/passageway between the office and studio is in the ratio; of 1:0.618

though i cannot say that anyone else has actually noticed or atleast commented on the incorporations of the "golden mean", which leads to the possibility that the effect i envision may be predetermined by my expectations and exist only for me.

all is a guess
do the homework, practice, assess the windage and take the shot and with any luck at all, the target incorporates the shot within it's being ---a nice roast, a trip to the toilet, and nothingness.

whither hence?

[tonofelephant]

Good Morning,

I have found that both in sculpture and in painting that golden mean and Fibbronacchi??(sp) ratios are great. I make the custom stretcher frames for my wifes paintings. It always seems that clients are more drawn to the frames that closely these ratios. I cannot run a full double blind test on this theory to ascertain if this information is anything other than apocyrphl (sp again) since we are working artists and cannot afford to waste wifes time on painting things that do not sell.

Same thing seems to hold tre in sculptures. There are definitely certain pieces that have sold that seem to cleave to the ratios. That said, I don't go out of my way to rigidly use ratios - they just seem to pop up.

Carl