Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Steve wrote: "I seem to remember the man himself said it was about geometry. Steve - - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of bdcolen Sent: 21 June 2003 22:22 To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: RE: [Leica] HCB Did It All First Did someone claim there was a "message" in the work? I missed that one. Given that the work is about composition and form, I think message is the last thing one would be looking for." I quote from the book review by John Banville about which I posted a short note about a week ago: "...as everywhere in his work, he has, one might say, humanized geometry. Asked about this, he will not comment, but his wife nods firm agreement. He ponders awhile. "I don't believe in God," he says, "but I do believe in pi." Pen and paper are produced and he dictates some numbers. It takes me a moment to recognize the formula for the golden section, the mathematical rule of aesthetic balance which has been used by artists since antiquity. He smiles his Zen master's smile. He is right, of course: everywhere in his work the field of vision - apt phrase! - is portioned out according to this formula; his eye divides the peopled world according to the rules of the golden section." (The New York Review, July 3, 2003) Oliver Bryk - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html