The Great Mosque of Kairouan

UMxx

Brick created on 11/08/2008 @ 04:54

Your brick story

Starting at Mandelbrot - and then Cate gets ant to look up the Golden Mean - and fell into that too - and then I remember the mosques in western China and outer Mongolia. There is something that I love about Islamic art. The man from Azerbaijan - a place I want to visit - has a shop full of carpets and my favourite - requiring me to win the full lottery is of the image of the dome of a mosque somewhere - it is in a tint of olive green and is hand knotted in silk - perfect in its symmetry and design. I go and visit it several times a year and now he just nods at me and smiles. Well I am going to leave the math alone - I still just know what I like

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Comments

11/08/2008 @ 05:11 Jomo said

I believe that you are right - the order, the patterning, somehow soothe the mind. It is a fractal pattern, forever repeating, and that is 'right' somehow. One of the reasons I like Kaleidoscopes - the infinite variety, of the repeating pattern...
Harmonious. I am entranced by the repetitions in a fern leaf - by the leaves. Maybe because of the chaos in my mind, I seek order and calm, and things 'in place?'
I don't have to leave the math alone, it leaves me alone, entirely! We have a complete breakdown of communication, numbers and I.
Music is the same, the repeating patterns which are harmonious to the ear, but the heart - the heart finds harmony in music, in patterns, in the sea on the sand, the beat of the wings of a bird rising.
I am almost afraid of feeling so calm and peaceful, because of dreading the slide into where I have been, and will probably go back at some time. Trying to enjoy the moment.
11/08/2008 @ 10:56 ant said

This is pretty interesting. I have seen a few painted mosque domes before but haven't thought about the maths involved in the design side of them. How did this topic start out? It's interesting what complicated images they are and yet we all seem to be attracted to them for their calming qualities. Smiling ant.
12/08/2008 @ 01:26 UMxx said

When it comes to numbers I still think about the same question I had in Year One - Who decided what symbols meant what number and how did they decide it. They are really weird symbols aren't they. The number 5 has always been a great amusement to me. It just isn't a natural shape - you know when you scribble have you ever really ever thought of making a 5? I like the squiggly tails and curves of 2.3.6.8.9. Then there are the non symmetrical 4,7's but I kind of like them because when they are made into a circle they look wonderful radiating out. Unfortunately my teacher - Mrs Robertson was not at all in tune with my thinking and told me I was stupid for thinking about such nonsense. I still don't know the answer! It seems like a logical question for me to ask - now and then! love UM xx