FYI (weekend art film, 1hour) M.C. Escher documentary

I found these documentaries this evening, and I found both of them to be quite excellent; the first and longer of the two videos provides the viewer with a vicarious vacation to Italy and Spain

I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, and not in a formless chaos, as it sometimes seems.

M. C. Escher

“More than 30 years after his death, the work of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) remains popular around the world. His woodcuts and lithographs possess a unique quality that makes them instantly recognizable. Where did he get the inspiration for his powerful black and white landscapes, clever abstracts and the series of mind-boggling metamorphosis?”¹

By either randomness or (more likely) algorithmic profiling, I found these documentaries this evening, and I found both of them to be quite excellent; the first and longer of the two videos provides the viewer with a vicarious vacation to Italy and Spain:

• At minute 27 we see some of the eerie weirdness that characterizes medieval Europe (mummified priests),

• At minute 36 we see how Escher intuitively grasped geometry, mathematics, and crystalline structures even though he avoided/postponed formal study of those same topics.

This 13-minute clip (below) shows an independent perspective, describing the geometry of Escher’s images:

This Oxford lecture (below) provides a more academic and mathematical perspective:

Appreciating the structures and interconnections of Logic: Music, Mathematics, Language, Natural Sciences and more

Our lives need more BEAUTY (2) and less drama

Architecture creates the society; continuing the theme of the Necessity of Social Beauty (3)

1. https://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/the-essence-of-escher/ Note that this link-page also includes a 30-minute audio documentary from Radio Netherlands Archives