The rainbow fractal Julius tree below was crated with help of the computer program Fractal Imaginator. The tree reminds rounded Pythagoras tree, where squares were replaced to thin rectangles. The tree fractal can be created not only with help of straight lines or rectangles, but also with help of curves and spirals. Below, you can see a title for the High School Course "Gödel, Escher, Bach: A Mental Space Odyssey" by Justin Curry and Curran Kelleher, where curved fractal tree is used. The spiral was chosen as base element for this fractal, which gives many elegant curls.

One of them is artist from England David Bailey. He creates his images in pen and watercolour.

The main motifs of his tessellations are birds.

The more complex constructions come in, when two distinct motifs are used in conjunction with each other.

Besides usual animals David Bailey uses imaginary creatures to create his wonderful artworks. Below you can see dinosaur-like creatures. The main distinguishing feature of this drawing is that only part of the image was used for animals, when other space shows only borders of elementary tiles. It helps to better understand, which kind of symmetry was used in every case.

Also he created several artworks, which reminds Escher's artworks with mutable tessellations like Metamorphoses. The image below shows the same process as in Escher's lithograph Development I. But David Bailey used birds as motif for his artwork instead of Escher's lizards.

The reverse process is shown in the image below.
More images by David Bailey you see at his personal site http://www.tess-elation.co.uk/. Besides this you you read some articles about tessellation art and Escher's artworks.

Made from Baltic birch plywood, Sitka spruce, maple, epoxy resin, oil-based inks, and aniline dye. (Some of the material list is incomplete -- apologies on that.)

This chair made such a great impression on me that I had to see more of Cederquist's work, and I am NOT disappointed. My mind is completely and utterly blown by this man's skills in using unique shapes and careful pigmentation to create a sense of movement on otherwise flat surfaces. AMAZING. (Those pipes in the photo above are NOT round, my friends. They are flat pieces of wood painted to look round.)

Visit his website at johncederquist.com to see more of his mind-blowing work. We didn't get permission to post the images, or we would. But. GO. It will not disappoint.

Turing’s paper is normally a tough read, but now computer programming legend and author of the remarkable book Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Charles Petzold has made Turing’s fascinating and provocative work accessible to a wider audience.

Petzold’s absorbing book expands Turing’s 36-page paper with historical and intellectual background, extensive annotations, and numerous digressions. Interwoven through the technical discussion are glimpses into Turing’s extraordinary and ultimately tragic life, including his secret work that helped break the German Enigma code to turn the tide of World War II, his speculation about artificial intelligence and the famous Turing Test for evaluating machine intelligence, his arrest during the homophobic witch hunts of the early 1950s, and his suicide at the age of 41.

Turing foresaw the future and helped mold it. In our post-Turing world, everything is a Turing Machine — from the most sophisticated computers we can build, to the hardly algorithmic processes of the human mind, to the information-laden universe in which we life.

The Annotated Turing will have special appeal to readers interested in the histories of technology, computing, and 20th century intellectual thought. The book is also an important addition to any Computer Science curriculum. It can be used in the study of the Theory of Computation, History of Computing, Computability, Theoretical Computer Science, and mathematical topics relevant to computer science.

About the Author:
Charles Petzold (New York, NY) is a best-selling author and programmer best known for his book Programming Windows (Microsoft Press), originally published in 1988 and currently in its fifth edition. He is also the author of Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, a unique exploration of digital technologies. His web site is www.charlespetzold.com.

About Wiley:
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

For more information, contact: Eric Holmgren 415-782-3161 eholmgre@wiley.com

The Annotated Turing By Charles Petzold Wiley; June, 2008; $29.99 978-0470-229-057; Paperback

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Poi c'è chi ha più fantasia, chi meno.

Cute typography and branding. I have no idea how the drink tastes or how much it costs, but as a sucker for packaging, I'd definitely try it.

.

This is very Escher and highly useful, especially for someone like me, who has an abundance of lil trinkets and jewelry with absolutely no place to put it.

.

This "floating staircase" was designed by Jordi Vayreda of Jordivayreda Projectteam (Spain). I'd my scared that my 400lb baby mantinee body will cause structural damage, especially to whoever is sitting at the desk below. But apparently the guard-rails are made of the same invisible material as the risers and it's metal parts are stuck deep into the wall.

.

Great for me, since im obsessed with poo :) not the actually thing... the word. Besides, it's high time someone redesigned that ugly tape dispenser.

.

This sofa looks so comfortable and like the perfect center piece for a hang out spot in the living room. I'd get it for my bed @ my parent's new house, but definitely not in purple. To be daring, maybe I'll try it in a metallic bronze or something.

.

A grass bed. It actually looks really comfortable, except maybe more cushion and less grass... and less... odd...

.

Not to sound like a complete alcoholic, but vodka is great... Vodka that could be kept neatly and in line is just effing amazing. I hope they have mini "flask" versions too! ... okay, now I'm starting to sound like an alcoholic.

.

When I first read about it on Gizmodo earlier, I thought this was the dumbest thing ever. I mean seriously, a GPS for your kid? Are you that busy/distracted that you can't freakin' hold his/her hand? Why don't you just get him a leash (yes, they have kid leashes) and call it a day? However, this watch is pretty useful, if you're going to a carnival or fair or want to keep track of errant boyfriends. (teeehehehehe)

.

I just saw this yesterday. It's so very much too edgy for me; as much as I'm a modernist, I still have a traditional vein running through my body (it's from the parents; I try to disassociate as much as possible). BUT I'd love to buy this for a friend or just enjoy it at a tea party. My favorite are the plates. They seem so nonsensical, yet functional.

.

Zat is eet for now. I will keep digging up cute lil design treasures for the July post! :) Chau!

Saudações, ALTianos e ALTianas. Notícias do fronte.

Sexta-feira - 7h31 pm
Dia de Fechamento
3º Post

As coisas estão indo bem por aqui, ao menos por enquanto... HAAAAAAAA XD

A Ju e o Anderson estão terminando os textos. Estão PRATICAMENTE PRONTOS. [puuuuuuuuufffffff XD] Tão prontos quanto a minha parte. hehehehe

A batalha é ardua, mas esperamos que gostem do resultado.

Daqui a uns minutos vamos dar um break na guerra, comeremos algo aqui por perto. SIIIIIIIIMMM... COMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR... .comeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr...

Tá, voltei. heheheh. Bom, por enquanto, fiquem com mais um vídeo com várias referências pinturescas, por assim dizer. XD A animação se chama Guernica e foi criada por Marcelo Ortiz. Enjoy

Por enquanto é isso. Esperamos não sair muito tarde. [AHHH É...] huAEHUEAHU

See yah.

Jeff

Maurits Cornelis Escher nasceu a 17 de Junho de 1898 em Leenwarden (cidade no norte da Holanda).

As suas obras são conhecidas pelo irreal, pela ilusão espacial e pela repetição de figuras geométricas. Embora não tenha sido um bom aluno a Matemática e a Artes, Escher conseguiu surpreender reputados matemáticos, por ter conseguido aplicar a Geometria  à sua obra. Ele próprio afirmou que, por vezes, se sentia mais perto do domínio Matemático que os seus colegas matemáticos!

Escher começou por construir as suas ideias com figuras geométricas. Substituiu as figuras por pássaros, peixes, lagartos... sem criar espaços vazios! Nos seus trabalhos não esqueceu a geometria da translação, simetria, rotação e inclinação. De um modo geral, Escher utilizou figuras belas e atraentes, criando um maior sentido do uso da Geometria.

Apreciem, então o seu trabalho!

Hoy he descubierto un grupo curioso de flickr. Infinite flickr es un grupo de 2367 miembros que comparte su escheriana afición a coleccionar fotografías en las que se puede ver flickr dentro de un cuadro o una foto que a su vez está dentro de un cuadro de flickr.... y así hasta el infinito. Os dejo con esta de armin san. Entre el mundo real y el virtual, ¿quién es más armin san?

Self Portrait, Escher Style.

I was in The Hague, Netherlands recently. The one place I absolutely had to go to was the M.C. Escher museum. On the top floor of the musuem they have aplayroom of sorts. As the picture shows, you can sort of replicate the famous M.C. Escher self portrait.

Este sueño, tan de la nueva carne, lo tuve periódicamente durante años hasta que, quizás en una época en que ya le buscaba porqués a todo, desapareció. No creo en las teorías sobre los sueños, es más, aunque comparto algunos preceptos de Freud (su Malestar en la cultura me encantó) no puedo con La interpretación de los sueños, pero en el caso de este sueño siempre me he preguntado el porqué ,ya que era el colmo de lo onírico, muy jodorowskiano, daliniano, cronengberiano, lynchiano, buñueliano y escheriano, muy agobiante, muy todo. A veces he pensado que podría ser una metáfora sobre la incapacidad humana de acceder a todo el conocimiento del Universo, algo así como ****spoiler**** lo que le ocurre al personaje de Cate Blanchett al final de Indy IV, la palma por querer poseer todo el conocimiento del mundo, o yo lo interpretré así ****fin del spoiler**** pero de una forma más poética y con menos presupuesto.

La cuestión es que este sueño me viene a la memoria de vez en cuando, y hoy ha sido uno de esos días, pero con más razón que nunca. Desde ayer trabajo en la biblioteca de Ciencias Sociales de la UAB. Creo que definitivamente ahueco el ala del campus (ya os contaré) pero aprovecho los últimos beneficios que me ofrece ser estudiante, entre ellos trabajar pocas horitas a buen precio, tal como está el tema. Serán sólo dos meses, pero tendré que aprender muchas cosas.

La organización de la Hemeroteca se me anojaba a ratos caótica, excesivamente burocratizada, pero la de la Biblioteca de Sociales me resulta lo mismo pero sin lo segundo. Un "can penja y despenja" que diríamos los catalanes. Pero no entraré en críticas sobre su organización, almenos no hasta que acabé la beca. Quizás luego me luzca a fondo, pues entre un sitio y el otro tengo para escribir material del bueno.

Encaucémonos de nuevo. Creo que el edificio en el que trabajo ahora es el de mi sueño. Vale, de momento no se me ha echado encima, aunque nunca se sabe, es antiguo, muy de la época en que se hacían edificios con aluminosis por lotes. Pero sí tiene mucho cemento, mucho metal, muchas estructuras cuadriculadas, y lo cibernético podrían ser las pantallas de los PCs. Y me pierdo en él (se comunican como 5 o 6 facultades distintas, es enorme), y está lleno de conocimientos que no poseeré jamás (sobre todo me ha llamado la atención el inacabable fondo de libros sobre derecho, con unos topográficos eternos con mil signos de puntuación distintos).

Además, sueño que estoy dentro, aunque no sea el sueño que soñaba. Ahora sueño que tengo que ordenar los libros. Sí, sí, sueño con la CDU. Y es que os reiréis de mí, pero creo que me he aprendido muchas cosas soñando con ellas, por eso después de haber dormido me acuerdo mejor de las cosas que el día anterior, cuando me pegué el (único) panzón de estudiar antes del examen. Creo que a un científico que descubrió algo importante le pasó eso.

Además, también sueño que los usuarios me preguntan cosas, o no sé si son los empleados, que aún van más perdidos con el nuevo programa de catalogación que un hijo de meretriz el día del padre. La cosa es que en duermevela respondo, y además de forma lógica. Don de gentes hasta en mi colchón de látex.

No me importa que el edificio sea estos dos meses el de mi sueño, el de EL SUEÑO, pero por favor, hablar del trabajo en las horas libres de vigilia, vale; soñar con el trabajo en las horas de sueño, no.

Por cierto, el título en latín me lo he sacado un poco de la manga. Hace como 10 años que no doy latín, y apenas hice un trimestre. Lo mío es el griego. Así que si alguien es capaz de decirme como es realmente en latín "El sueño es el trabajo" se lo agradecería hasta el fin de mis días.

178. Light Shining Through the Mist: A Photobiography of Dian Fossey by Tom L. Matthews

I've read Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey's autobiography, a few times, years ago, so not much of the actual information in this book was new to me, but the pictures were, and they are informative and well presented in the context of the text. In some ways this feels the more informative as to the structure of Fossey's life, simply because her own book focuses so much more on the gorillas and the research into them, where this one is about her.

179. The Magic of M. C. Escher introduced by J. L. Locher

This large format tome reproduces a large number and variety of Escher's prints, sketches and other works, and introduces them and their artist. There are quotes, mostly by Escher, put in wherever they're relevant, and I really enjoyed learning about him as an artist. Looking for the trick in his straight landscapes is fun.

180. Living Jewels by Poul Beckmann
181. Living Jewels 2 by Poul Beckmann

This pair of beautiful books won't sound spectacular, but it really really is. They are about the beauty of beetles, and when you see the blown up (full large format page size) photographs you will have to agree beetles can be beautiful, as well as bizarre, and simply fascinating. The introductions, explaining the life of beetles and the history of their collection, are well written and very interesting.

182. Queen Victoria by John Guy

This is from the same series as the Francis Drake book I read and discussed about a week ago, but I think it's much better. The chapters certainly flow far better. She's a very interesting woman who led a country in major flux.

I'm losing coherence. More tomorrow, I hope!

Cómo mostrar el espacio sin más es aburrido, decidí representar un enrejado acotado por la superficie de un objeto. Para ello utilicé una herramienta que codifiqué hace más o menos un año. La herramienta (una clase en C++) determina si un punto está dentro o fuera de un objeto cerrado. Esta herramienta se pensó para determinar el volumen de un objeto amén de utilizarse para obtener otras interesantes características como el tensor de inercia del sólido rígido que representaría. Para determinar el volumen, normalmente se eligen puntos aleatorios acotados dentro de una superfice que engloba el objeto y se haya una relación entre los que están dentro y los totales. Si esta relación se multiplica por el volumen acotado de la superficie englobante tenemos una aproximación del volumen. Estas técnicas de integración numérica son muy útiles cuando es muy complicado o imposible obtener una función analítica que represente la función de superficie que se desea integrar.

Para realizar este modelo simplemente hay seleccionar puntos equiespaciados en los tres ejes espaciales y almacenar los que están dentro del objeto a analizar. Analizando la vecindad de los nodos (ver si tiene vecinos en los tres ejes y sus dos direcciones) se pueden añadir empalmes que parejas de éstos. Es necesario elegir cautelosamente los tamaños de los nodos y de los empalmes para que el armazón no englobe todo el espacio.

Dejo por aquí algunos renders. Una vista interior:

Otras exteriores...

Y una exterior más de cerca:

There has to be a certain enigma in it, which does not immediately catch the eye.

Maurits Cornelis Escher, Dutch illustrator and artist.

Art by M.C. Escher.

In a previous post I used some drawngs by M.C. Escher. Here's my portrait of him.

PrInt Gallery_MaurIts_CornelIs_Escher

V.S.

Non sei gli altri_Jorge_Luis_Borges

No, non ti salverà quanto lasciarono

scritto coloro che temendo implori;

tu non sei gli altri, ti trovi nel centro

del labirinto ordito dai tuoi passi.

Non ti salvano l'agonia di Cristo

o di Socrate, non ti salva Budda,

l'aureo Siddharta che accettò la morte

in un giardino, al cadere del giorno.

E' polvere anche la parola scritta

dalla tua mano, la sillaba detta

dalla tua bocca. E' impietosa la sorte

e la notte di Dio non ha mai fine.

La tua materia è il tempo, l'incessante

tempo. Sei tutti gli istanti e ogni istante.

I bravi commenti sulle Correspondences di Baudelaire insegnano che il mondo è attraversato da due dimensioni. Naturale, quella della realtà sensibile, conosciuta attraverso i sensi. Spirituale, mascherata dietro ciò che è visibile. Il naturale sembra essere apparenza, involucro di un senso segreto che solo il poeta percepisce, trasformando l’esperienza sensibile in estasi spirituale.

Il giochino qui funziona così, ma secondo le mie CoRrisponDanceS.

Oggi provo con BoRges & EscHer.

In definitiva, potrebbe anche non avere molto a che fare con Baudelaire.

Volevo esprimere semplicemente la mia passione per gli splendidi lavori di Maurits Escher tra i quali questo forse è quello che preferisco.
Se vi ho incuriosito con questa immagine qui troverete altri lavori.

il tuo cammino
scelta dopo scelta
istante per istante

rewind

una tela
una mano
un pennello

tu fai le tue scelte.
e sei solo tu che le vivi.
e, alla fine, tu sei quelle scelte.

ora

sulla strada
dipingi(ti)
in una scelta.

ascolta(ti).
è un istante
quel tratto sulla tela.

quell'essenza che vive nelle tre barriere che tosotsu etsu oshõ stabilì per i suoi discepoli:
1. non lasciare nessuna pietra non-capovolta per esplorare la profondità, semplicemente vedere nella propria vera natura. ora, voglio chiedervi, proprio in questo stesso momento dov’è la vostra vera natura ?
2. se realizzerete la vostra vera natura, sarete liberati da nascita e morte. ma, ditemi, quando all'ultimo momento la vostra vista vi abbandonerà, come potrete essere liberi da vita e morte ?
3. quando sarete liberati da vita e morte, voi dovreste conoscere la vostra ultima destinazione. quindi, quando i quattro elementi si separeranno, dove andrete ?

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Canone cancrizzante

in
Gödel,  Escher,  Bach:
un'Eterna Ghirlanda Brillante
di
douglas r. hofstadter

Una mattina, mentre stanno passeggiando nel parco,
Achille e la Tartaruga si incontrano per caso.

Tartaruga: Buongiorno, Achille.

Achille: Altrettanto!

Tartaruga: Che piacere incontrarla.

Achille: Lei fa eco ai miei pensieri.

Tartaruga: Oggi è una giornata perfetta per una passeggiata. Penso che tornerò a casa a piedi.

Achille: Davvero? Credo che faccia molto bene passeggiare.

Tartaruga: Tra parentesi, lei sembra in forma smagliante in questi giorni devo dire.

Achille: Grazie.

Tartaruga: Di niente. Ma ecco: gradisce uno dei miei sigari? È un toscano, un po' forte, ma...

Achille: Lei mi stupisce con questi suoi gusti! In questo campo i contributi olandesi sono di qualità decisamente superiore, non le pare?

Tartaruga: Non sono d'accordo con lei. Ma a proposito di gusti, qualche giorno fa, in una galleria, ho visto finalmente il Canone cancrizzante di M.C.Escher, il suo artista preferito, ed ho ammirato moltissimo la sua bellezza e l'arte raffinata con cui l'autore ha saputo intrecciare un unico tema con se stesso, sviluppandolo simultaneamente in avanti e all'indietro. Ma temo che continuerò a ritenere Bach superiore ad Escher.

Achille: Non so. Ma una cosa è certa: non do peso a questioni di gusto. Disputandum non est de gustibus.

Tartaruga: Oh! Ma guardi questo fiore, le piace? Mi sembra una strana margherita.

Achille: Ad essere precisi appartiene alla famiglia delle viole.

Tartaruga: A me sembra che sia più o meno la stessa cosa. Mi faccia capire meglio, per favore.

Achille: Viole no? C'è una bella differenza.

Tartaruga: Capisco. Ma mi dica, lei suona la chitarra?

Achille: È un mio caro amico che qualche volta l'ha suonata. Ma lei non riuscirebbe a farmi toccare una chitarra neanche con un toscano lungo tre metri.

(Improvvisamente, come dal nulla, appare il Granchio, saltellando tutto eccitato e indicandosi un occhio vistosamente nero)

granChio: Salve, salve, che succede? Che cosa c'è di nuovo? Guardate qui che botto, quest'occhio tutto rotto, che mi ha fatto un iroso giovanotto. Hoo! E in una giornata così bella. Vedete, io stavo ciondolando per il parco, quando s'avanza questo gigante toscano, un buttero d'aspetto animalesco che suonava lento il liuto. Era alto tre metri, se non ho le traveggole. Mi dirigo verso il giovanotto, mi impettisco quanto posso, il mio occhio arriva appena al suo ginocchio, e gli faccio: “Mi scusi signore, ma perchè s'aggira per il nostro parco attoscando l'aria col suo suono lutolento?”. Oh, non l'avessi mai detto! Un essere completamente privo di spirito; o forse era ubriaco, chissà! Perde il controllo e... pah! mi colpisce giusto nell'occhio. Fosse dipeso dalla mia natura, avrei accettato volentieri di sgranchirmi un po' le ossa, ma nel rispetto dell'onorata tradizione della mia specie, ho indietreggiato. Dopotutto quando noi avanziamo, indietreggiamo. È un vizio incallito, non posso farci niente. Guardate pe esempio come scrivo il mio nome: prima scrivo la seconda sillaba, poi torno indietro per scrivere la prima! Vedete infatti dove metto la maiuscola? È nei nostri geni, sapete, girarci in tondo. Io mi sono sempre chiesto – ora mi torna in mente - “Cosa è venuto prima, il granChio o il Gene?”, vale a dire “Cosa è venuto dopo il Gene o il granChio?”. Io muovo ogni cosa in un eterno girotondo, sapete. È nei nostri geni, dopotutto. Quando indietreggiamo, avanziamo. Ahimè, ohibò! Io devo andar per la mia via felice, come un simil giorno inver s'addice. Cantate “Hoo” per la vita di un granChio! TATA! Olè!

(E scompare così come è apparso)

Tartaruga: È un mio caro amico, che qualche volta è un po' suonato. Ma lei non riuscirebbe a farmi toccare un toscano lungo tre metri neanche con una chitarra.

Achille: Capisco. Ma mi dica, lei suona la chitarra?

Tartaruga: Violino. C'è una bella differenza.

Achille: A me sembra più o meno la stessa cosa. Mi faccia capire meglio, per favore.

Tartaruga: Ad essere precisi appartiene alla famiglia delle viole.

Achille: Oh! Ma guardi questo fiore, le piace? Mi sembra una strana margherita.

Tartaruga: Non so. Ma una cosa è certa: non do peso a questioni di gusto. Disputandum non est de gustibus.

Achille: Non sono d'accordo con lei. Ma a proposito di gusti, qualche giorno fa, a un concerto, ho ascoltato finalmente il Canone cancrizzante di J.S.Bach, il suo compositore preferito, e ho ammirato moltissimo la sua bellezza e l'arte raffinata con cui l'autore ha saputo intrecciare un unico tema con se stesso, sviluppandolo simultaneamente in avanti e all'indietro. Ma temo che continuerò a ritenere Escher superiore a Bach.

Tartaruga: Lei mi stupisce con i suoi gusti! In questo campo i contributi olandesi sono di qualità decisamente inferiore, non le pare?

Achille: Per niente. Ma, ecco: gradisce uno dei miei sigari? Non è forte come un toscano, ma...

Tartaruga: Grazie.

Achille: Tra parentesi, lei sembra in forma smagliante in questi giorni, devo dire.

Tartaruga: Davvero? Credo che faccia molto bene passeggiare.

Achille: Oggi è una giornata perfetta per una passeggiata. Penso che tornerò a casa a piedi.

Tartaruga: Lei fa eco ai miei pensieri.

Achille: Che piacere incontrarla.

Tartaruga: Altrettanto!

Achille: Buongiorno, signorina T.

douglas r. hofstadter
di
un'Eterna Ghirlanda Brillante
Gödel, Escher, Bach:

in

Canone cancrizzante

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fino al tramonto.
eccoti in attesa.
in una sala vuota.
seggi
appaiono
e lì
ecco una sedia.
ecco mostrarsi i contorni di un tavolo.
e le ombre, scoperte, si ritirano.
dalle finestre filtra luce
ed è già l'alba.
ti volti...

A tessellation is like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces have the same shape but they still fit together without any gaps. The squares on a tile floor would be one example. The figure below is a more complicated tessellation which is composed of identical 9-sided polygons but has a 3 dimensional feel, appearing a bit like two snakes wrapping around eachother:

Cover image on Grünbaum/Shephard book: Tilings and Patterns

Click on the above image to see it larger and, for more information, see the description at my dad's flicker page, here.

If it were possible to make a tessellation where each piece was a dog then you would have a dog tessellation. For a long time I didn't think such a thing could exist. I knew about that Dutch master graphic artist named Escher. He did lots of tessellations where the pieces were animals, so I asked the old man if Escher ever did one with dogs. My dad has seen just about all the Escher art there is to see and he said there weren't any with dogs. There was a pretty nice one with fish he said and he showed me this one, which isn't too well known:

Escher--Fish on Textile--1942 (big)

Well, that's that, I thought. But then one day the old nose got to sniffing and pretty soon sniffed out an Escher piece with dogs. Yup, thought I, there are some advantages to being a dog. I'm pretty sure Escher had it in a notebook or some private file, because its not done as carefully as the public work he exhibited, and parts of the red have faded since he made it, way back in 1938. But a dog tessellation it is, and possibly the first one ever made. Have a look:

Escher--Dog Tessellation--1938

I was pretty happy there were some red dogs in there, since, as you must know by now, I'm a red dog too. Those dogs really look like dogs and yet they fit together perfectly. I take my hat (figuratively speaking since I don't actually have a hat) off to Escher. Maurits Cornelis Escher lived from 1898 to 1972. The official Escher web site, where you can see lots of his other work, is here.

Nowadays lots of clever people have created tessellation art similar to Escher's tessellations with animal images. People today have the huge advantage of using special computer software to help them design and create the images. But you won't see many woodcuts, and for my taste Escher did it best.

Here then are some modern dog tessellations. The first three are by Japanese graphics design artist Makoto Nakamura

Makoto Nakamura--dog tessellation 1--1993 (big)

Makoto Nakamura--dog tessellation 6--2004 (big)

To me those dogs look too much like rabbits. Here is the last example by this artist.

Makoto Nakamura--dog tessellation 7--1988 (big)

You can find a huge variety of other graphic art at Makoto Nakamura's page, most of it not dog tessellations. Just click here.

The next image is a dog tessellation by Yoshiaki Araki, who appears to me to have been a youngster in Japan when he did tessellations. Information about this artist is scarce, but my reading of tea leaves leads me to believe that he parlayed his interest in tessellations to an interest in Kleinian and Fuchsian groups and computer graphics, got a PhD at Keio University, and found bigger fish to fry. This is guesswork, not fact, so don't quote me, and if you must be sure to say you heard it from Rita the dog.

Yoshiaki Araki--dog--date unknown (big)

For the last dog tessellation, here is an image by a 10 year old girl named "Kaitlyn C", who won some sort of prize for it.

Kaitlyn C--age 10--Dog Tessellation (big)

This concludes my post on dog tessellations. If you want to see more you can certainly find them on the Internet, but I would urge you to try and create one for yourself.

Good luck!

Rita the dog

]]> http://johnamor.wordpress.com/?p=50 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:38:15 +0000 johnamor http://johnamor.wordpress.com/?p=50 I know I said I'd post a day after the previous entry, but I got sick. I'm still sick. Bronchitis or some shit, what're ya gonna do? heh. I've missed three days of work. I am so fired. Which would matter if I had plans of staying there, which I don't. It ain't an arty job. I know, I know. Picky shmicky.

Funny story: Prior to me getting sick, I had already been suffering from a work worm. You ever get those? That throbbing in your head that you get from lack of sleep? Lack of sleep that's caused be the knowledge that you're not getting any real work done? Work worm. I like it. I got it coz I'd been neglecting my NEXT WAVE pages for some paying gigs. No, I'm not happy about it. A comic gig is still the top priority. Cebulski already showed the first three pages to some editors, and well, let's just say I NEED TO GET THE REST DONE. Some Marvel Adventures titles are opening up soon. I need to get off my ass.

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For now I'm keeping busy with a project assigned to me by some contacts. In a nutshell, I need to adapt an M.C. Escher piece into... well... something else. First thing in my head was Are you kidding me? Second thing was Are you FUCKING kidding me? My printer's busted, and I have no time to get the Wacom from Bossman Jeff. So I'm eyeballing the fuck out of this thing. Back to comics when all this hoohah is done.

Ohhh gaaaaawwwd...

::: ::: :::

East West Exiles has just gone live --- it's a site the viceroys and I have put up to keep in touch, what with everybody being busy and all. Check it out.

Laters.