Claire Fan - Week 7: The Fibonacci Sequence? More Like the AMERICA Sequence!!
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| What a typical day in a pattern-seeking primate's (my) life looks like |
Fun fact #1: the Italians, during their Renaissance movement beginning in the 14th century, were utterly obsessed with proportions and ratios. The perfection of man as a vessel (see: Vitruvian Man), a philosophical movement known as humanism, was highly emphasized. The golden ratio, and shapes made using it, are prevalent throughout the art produced in that time period. From architecture to painting to sculpture, the Fibonacci sequence, golden rectangle, etc. are all found in Renaissance art.
Of course, the Renaissance, strictly speaking, was nothing “new.” Technically, “renaissance” literally means “rebirth.” In other words, the Renaissance was simply a rebirth of old art: art from the ancient Greeks or Romans. The love of ratios was also similarly inherited from them; the golden rectangle, for example, is derived from the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence and is seen in the Pantheon.
Fun fact #2: the White House—and much of early American architecture (Neoclassical, Gregorian…)—draws from Roman and Greek architecture. In general, early American architects focused on symmetry and balance in attempts to imitate the ancients; this is especially prevalent in larger buildings like colonial mansions or historic universities like Harvard or Columbia.
Following emancipation from the tyrannical rule of Great Britain, America was desperate to develop its own unique identity and culture separate from its former mother country. They turned to Rome and Greece in part because of the desire to emulate the examples they set as shining beacons of democracy, but also for the harmony and beauty exemplified in their monumental architecture. Famed German philosopher Nietzsche advocates for the idea that “morals have aesthetic criteria” through the comparison of crushing a butterfly versus a cockroach: one is met with reproach while the other is celebrated. Democracy in this case is the beautiful butterfly, which means that a democratic society must, therefore, have beautiful architecture, marked by a most objective evaluation of beauty: the golden ratio, the most aesthetically pleasing ratio known to mankind. This quote in particular helps me make sense of why America is seen the way it is in culture and society. Before early pioneers and architects of the country were even aware of the future of the country they were building, they were already optimizing its image to be as, well, beautiful as possible.
Fun fact #3 (last one!): America in Mandarin Chinese and Korean is 美国 and 미국 respectively, literally translating to “beautiful country.” An unintended consequence of developing pattern recognition is the viewing of the symmetrical and balanced to be beautiful. In our minds, what is beautiful must be good, and what is good should be beautiful. America was founded on this concept—that this young, fresh country would be beautiful and thus good, and perhaps the other way around. Whether America lives up to its title as a “beautiful country” is hotly debated, but we can definitely be certain that above all, the idea of America is most beautiful.
Claire, I can feel your enthusiasm permeating through my skull as I am writing this. I could never understand how the golden ratio worked with how math somehow determines the best balance of visual elements? But hey! If it looks good, it looks good! The Romans and Greeks with their signature white pillars is definitely reflected in monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial—that looks majestic as well.
ReplyDeleteI really love how you brought up aesthetics and morals and how they are more entwined than many realize, reminiscent of the "separate art from artist” dilemma. Popular example: J.K. Rowling as of now is mainly known for two things, which are the Harry Potter series and for having incredibly prejudicial views. Some of her ideology is reflected in her work as seen with character names and questionable societal structures, but the series is dear to so many people who grew up reading about Harry’s adventures. Like what you said, there’s this need to uphold the “what is morally correct is beautiful, and what is beautiful is morally correct” because what is beautiful is desirable and no one wants a moral dilemma every time they want to consume content. If the author’s prejudice seeps through the pages, the product might be an aesthetic product with questionable moral direction, yet people are inclined to support it because the series to them is “beautiful”. But then again, all things are naturally flawed, and I believe as long as you acknowledge the flaws, it’s more than okay to indulge in the unethical. Lovely blog as always!
I really like your discussion of the association between things that are good and beautiful. To an extent, something that is beautiful does seem inherently good—because it has beauty. However, I think that we often make the mistake of confusing contexts of the word. The idea that a morally good society should be visually beautiful comes from the common belief that if something is seen to be good in one aspect, it is assumed to be so in others as well. While it certainly does help a beautiful country boast its self-righteousness through grand buildings, this perception bias, sometimes called the “halo effect,” also has occurrences elsewhere; notably, with people, and I think it brings up an interesting question as to what beauty truly is. While it can be thought about from a somewhat objective standpoint (whether a building is aesthetically pleasing or functional), all reasoning seems to collapse in the face of what we feel. We find others beautiful (and good), despite their flaws. We try to act good ourselves despite ours. To find this seemingly perfect beauty, the Greeks and Romans had to look past what they considered heinous—including many other cultures and behaviors which today we would appreciate all the same. I really loved reading your blog; it made me look at the cracks and ridges in my wall and consider the beauty found both in patterns and the lack thereof.
ReplyDeleteHi Claire! Having learned about Renaissance artworks such as The Birth of Venus or The Last Judgment before in my AP Art History class, I can totally understand your claim about the Italians being obsessed with perfect proportions. Like you said, these concepts of ideal ratios are descended from the Greeks and Romans. One specific example I can think of is Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), which is a classical Greek sculpture that utilized symmetry to celebrate the beauty of the human body and served as a model of what Greeks believed the ‘perfect’ human body looked like.
ReplyDeleteI also think it’s really interesting how you made connections between how European Renaissance artists as well as American architects both drew inspiration from Greek and Roman artwork. Monticello, the private residence of Thomas Jefferson that he designed himself, is a great example of how American architects rejected influence from Britain in favor of more favorable inspirations, as Jefferson was deliberately trying to avoid British-like architecture and chose to emulate French neoclassical styles instead.
Hey Claire! I really like the idea of America’s image being built on the intention of being beautiful like you said with the architecture inspired by Greeks and Romans. I honestly think it’s kind of ironic though, because even though our architecture is supposed to reflect beauty and peace as a revival of the Renaissance, the very pinnacle of our country was built on the bloodshed and suffering of millions (wars, prejudice, etc.). And even though America as an idea is beautiful, I think it's important to acknowledge the amount of corruption and betrayal that hides behind this image.
ReplyDeleteThe way that America pulls from Greek and Roman architecture reminds me of some of the architecture from the places I went to in Vietnam. In the several cities that I went to, I found that most of the common tourists places were all based off of Venice, Italy. And whether that means that Vietnam just wanted to stray away from their former mother countries or they genuinely did find a liking to their style, it’s really interesting to see how countries interpret and try to replicate other architectural styles. Even though all of these styles and interpretations are uniquely beautiful, there’s something artificial about them…
Thank you for this interesting blog, Claire!