RE: Golden Ratio (WAS: Re: A3)

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Paul, and others, it's well and good to have a "feel" for what 
proportions you think pleasing; if you dig into the Golden Section it 
represents a bit of very ancient history, something picked out of 
nature and abutted in that man-made universe, mathematics. There is a 
long, deeply etched tradition in which this proportion is writ large, 
in the plastic arts including representation and architecture.

While any of us certainly have our own opinions, it's worthwhile to 
know a little of the history, the antecedents, to inform our own 
work. Besides, they are often quite beautiful, lessons in themselves.

And then there's the old maxim, those who forget history are doomed 
to repeat it.

Bob Tyson




>I don't think the Golden Ratio _is_ anything special, aesthetically. If you
>asked a bunch of people to create a frame that gave the optimum aspect ratio
>for a picture, the average of their choices might be somewhere in the
>ballpark of the Golden Ratio of 1.618, but it might very well be 1.588 or
>1.693. To say that the human mind somehow resonates with the precise ratio
>of 1.618 implies that the more people's ideas of the optimum aspect ratio
>you average, the closer it will approach 1.618. I don't think there's any
>reason to believe that that's true. Numbers really don't have magical
>properties.
>
>--
>
>Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
>Paul                mailto:pderocco@ix.netcom.com
>
>>  From: Walter Starck
>>
>>  The Golden Ratio or Golden Mean is a mathematical proportion in which
>>  the smaller is to the larger as the larger is to the whole.  This
>>  relationship is reflected in nature by various phenomena in which
>>  elements grow out of or are governed by those preceding it.  Examples
>>  range from various growth patterns such as the spiral of  a nautilus
>>  shell or crystalline patterns, to musical notes, to aspects of planetary
>>  and sub-atomic orbits, and even the nature our own sensory systems.
>>
>>  Consciousness itself  emerges from pattern, the microcosm that reflects
>>  the macrocosm. The Golden Mean is a pattern that resonates throughout
>>  the universe, with our own sensory perceptions, and ultimately with our
>>  very being.  The ancients recognized it as something quite special and
>>  it was incorporated into the design of the Parthenon, the Great Pyramid
>>  and often in art.  In graphic art it has often been employed consciously
>>  and unconsciously not just for overall width vs. height but also in
>>  composition, forms and patterns.
>>
>>  While there can be many good reasons for using other proportions for
>>  differing purposes of format it does seem a bit of an oversight that
>>  arbitrary standards such as lettersize and widescreen proportions while
>>  close to the Golden Mean have for no apparent reason  not actually used
>>  it.
>
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