Moving Parts: the Aesthetic of Intricacy

[celandine13]

Veil after veil have we lifted, and ever the face is more lovely.
--Apuleius

I've noticed a while back that there are some interesting taste overlaps among "people like me."

Bach is a big one.  Math people, with eerie consistency, really like Bach.  Even the ones who've never heard of the math/Bach connection.  When I was about eleven, the Bach bug

Comments

[nancylebov]

The Book of Kells probably belongs on the visual arts list.

And Catholic theology belongs on the Miscellaneous list.

[celandine13]

Ooh, yeah.

I forgot about the Catholic connection but you're right, it's REALLY strong.

[nancylebov]

I only bumped up against the Catholic thing recently. People who like Catholic theology would probably also like The Apocalypse Door by Jame MacDonald-- a moderately conventional horror/action novel with real theology rather than just the shiny bits.

Another possible preference is Greer Gilman (Moonwise et al.)-- fantasy's answer to James Joyce. Just about every paragraph has a reference to other fantasy, mythology, poetry, folk dance. The puns are superb. Glossary by Michael Swanwick.

Possibility for music: Liquid Tension Experiment (prog rock)

[xuenay]

It's been a few years, but for some reason I find myself re-reading this post every now and then. Also wishing that I could share it with others. Possible to get it public?

Match

[ext_2589024]

Very recognisable and I shall certainly investigate the parts of the pattern that I do not share. I would give Escher his own visual arts entry and drop Ockeghem and Tallis into the music, "Fairy Feller's Masterstroke" into visual arts.

Don Rosa

[ext_4050040]

I am probably discovering this post 4 years too late, but I cannot resist submitting 2 additional and personally cherished examples of aesthetic intricacy. One is high-brow and obvious: Marcel Proust. The second is less obvious and as low-brow as it gets, but one of the purest embodiments of this concept that I have personally been exposed to: Keno Don Rosa, the author of "The life and times of Scrooge McDuck". I remember being fascinated by his work as a kid. This artist drew nothing but duck comics all his life - and everything he produced is beautiful in its fractal intricacy: details within details within details, all echoing, mirroring and referring to each others, all nested with an uncanny mixture of luxurious, creative exuberance and neat geometric regularity. (For representative examples, just Google Image "Don Rosa Life and times of Scrooge McDuck").

I keep wondering what Don Rosa's fame would be if he had gone beyond duck tales. Maybe "Godel, Escher, Bach" would be titled "Godel, Escher, Bach, Don Rosa".