Kufic Tendrils and the Mandelbrot Set
Email This ArticleLooking at the hand-painted Iznik-inspired dishes at the Istabul archeological museum’s Cinili Pavillion, I marveled at the shadings of blue around the interweaving tendrils, a pattern that is often repeated in Islamic calligraphy. But it was not until I saw Vasif Effendi’s mother of pearl inlays for Islamic calligraphy and the various paly of light and shade along the edges of the strokes, that I began to understand the possibility of multiple interpretations that were used in the nascent days of encryption within the decorative patterns of Turkish carpets. It reminded me of the multiple meanings of Aramaic as well as the Mandelbrot set in fractals. You see, I think the modern machine-generated beauty has a flawless mathematical perfection. What makes handicraft of the bygone days a thing of value? I think it’s that imperfection, that lack of redundancy, and the sense that every moment of the painter’s life changes with each stroke.
It is then no surprise when the artists and calligraphers of the Timurid period escaped to China in the 16th century and subsequentlyincorporated Mongol influences into their work. By the time the Sifavids returned, there was even Shamanistic references within their Tendrils.
It makes me think that imperfect repetition, is the path to enlightenment.
January 29th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
In my personal andd subjective opinion…
I think the path to enlightenment is the path for perfection, and each imperfect stroke is only but a step forward to the perfect stroke — the one that will take one to the “next level”
Computers can’t have a consciousness, they are tools that the user — the painter, uses to advance in his/her travel.
That said, i’m a artist programmer, so i might be biased.
February 6th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Don’t forget, of course, that even each perfect stroke, may be a step forward to the perfect stroke.