Close Your Eyes & You’ll Burst Into Flames
I’ve always liked the idea of closeups. Not in an “I need attention – I’m a movie star” sort of way, but from an artistic point of view. Maybe that is why the first image I took with my new mini SLR was a closeup of sorts.
When one looks for a pattern, it is usually on a grand scale, but a close look on a smaller reveals rigid patterns and rhythms there too.
It is almost as if we are stuck in a rut between the big and the small – in a place where patterns do not appear unless you look outside. The prize is not in front of you, but rather below and above.
Of course this is not an absolute – just a generalization itself. I believe in a sort of patterned randomization of objects. What happens when something is patterned in a random way? That is, when it is perhaps made to seem random, when in fact it is completely fixed. Someone designed the piece of art below to appear random. What would one even begin to call that?
Rhythm and entropy: both patterned by design. How much randomness is there really? According to my astronomy studies, not much. Even galaxies drifting apart in seemingly random directions form distinctive patterns. This image below represents galaxies held together by gravity. It may seem rather random, but if you look at a flat representation of this or similar data, you see a very definite pattern of filaments and voids.
By the way, if you have not noticed, much of this may seem like a rant. In fact, it is a collection of some thoughts from the last few days – so take it however you wish. I do not claim to be a brilliant philosopher. I only claim to think.
I find it particularly curious that the abstract can be both patterned and random. Perhaps that is the answer to it all. It isn’t that the world has spots of patterned space and places where entropy rules, but rather that space can be both. Perhaps it is wrong to look at space as one or the other, but necessarily both.
Whatever the truth is, I think it is an interesting thing to ponder. Even if it means nothing in actuality. Sometimes it is important to think in circles to yourself. But maybe the most important thing is just to look.
The sun will always be beautiful – from any distance.
<3 JOHN
