Harmonics in Music, Art & Architecture
Mereon’s unique relationship to the Golden Ratio leads to many areas of investigation. Of particular interest is how artisans seek to approximate this ratio in art, architecture and music. The reason may be that this dynamic proportion seems to call forth an awareness harmonics and beauty, igniting something of an internal resonace. French artist, Georges-Pierre Seurat left a legacy of artwork each piece a study in color theory, structures and the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is obvious in his work shown (centre) above, Circus Sideshow (or Parade de Cirque) [1887–88, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City] Salvador Dali also employed the Golden Ratio, this and the dodecahedron found in his interpretation of 'the Last Supper'. [1955, National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.] And finally, see if you can imagine how a five-pointed star might fit Michael Angelo's 'Holy Family'.
Phi is a proportion found to guide the structure of growth in nature, seen in the nautilus shell, and the human body. It is often used in art and architecture, its ratio guiding small elements into a precise relationship with larger elements, the whole resulting in something that is extraordinarily pleasing to the eye.
The Parthenon, and the pyramids at Giza appear to be architecturally based on the Golden Ratio. Whether this was intentional is for many, open to debate and doubt. However, the Castel Del Monte (far right), a magnificent building found in Andria, Italy, and depicted on the Euro penny, certainly reflects the golden mean. Built in the 1240s, this fractal structure, while based on 8, is reminiscent of a snowflake. While the fractal nature may be surprising to come, it will come as no surprise to know that the architect was a friend to the great mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. The exterior is a perfect octagon, and the eight octagonal towers scale downward to an Islamic octagonal pattern found in the floor tiles.
By following nature, these remarkably simple, and enduring man-made structures profoundly lift the mind toward heavenly matters. Music is rooted in the Fibonacci series, 1 > 2 > 3 > 5 > 8 >13 an approximation of the golden ratio. The word octave comes from the Latin word for 8, referring to the eight whole tones of the complete musical scale, which in the key of C are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The Mereon Knot was used on the cover art of Midnight Clear by a dear friend of this work, Andreas Vollenweider and his colleague Carley Simon. in 2006.