Abstract
Good designs , very generally speaking, have a repetitive quality. Goodness in repetition has little to do with the viewer’s comfort in receiving the expected. Rather, we appreciate repetition because it allows us to recognize—or even to think that we wondrously discover—the new and the different amidst similarities. Whereas repetition implies consistent relations of similar parts, differences challenge these relations and stimulate our interpretive capacity towards recognizing multiple, unique but still meaningful, wholes. Dialogues that arise from repetition and variation characterize a good design . The aim below is to draw attention to a centuries old visual design with a repetitive quality that resonates with computational iteration while finds its character in variations that result from seeking and seeing different relations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abas, S. J. and Salman, A. S.: 1992, Geometric and group-theoretic methods for computer graphics studies of Islamic symmetric patterns, Computer Graphics Forum 11, 1, 43–53.
Bakirer, Ö.: 1981, Selçuklu Öncesi ve Selçuklu Dönemi Anadolu Mimarisinde Tugla Kullanimi {The use of brick in Anatolian architecture in pre-Seljuk and Seljuk era}. Ankara, Turkey, ODTÜ.
Bakirer, Ö.: 1992, ‘“Aksaray Cincikli Mescid’in On Yuzundeki Geometrik Orgu Duzenlemelerinin Tasarimi Icin Bir Deneme”’ IX. Vakif Haftasi Kitabi: Turk Vakif Medeniyetinde Hz. Mevlana ve Mevlevihanelerin Yeri ve Vakif Eserlerinde Yer Alan Turk-Islam Sanatlari Seminerleri, 2–4 Aralik 1991 Ankara (Vakiflar Genel Mudurlugu Yayinlari, Ankara, Turkey).
Bakirer, Ö.: 1999, Story of the Three Graffiti, Muqarnas, 16 pp. 42–69.
Critchlow, K.: 1976, Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach, London: Thames and Hudson.
Feldman, J.: 1992, Constructing Perceptual Categories, Proc Comp Vis and Pat Recog, Champaign, IL, June, pp. 244–250.
Grünbaum, B. and Shephard, G. C.: 1987, Tilings and Patterns. W. H. Freeman.
Grünbaum, B. and Shephard, G. C.: 1992, Interlace Patterns in Islamic and Moorish Art, Leonardo, Vol. 25, No. 3/4, pp. 331–339.
Kaplan, C. S.: 2000, “Computer Generated Islamic Star Patterns” in Bridges 2000: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music and Science.
Lawson, B.: 2001, Language of Space, Oxford: Architectural Press.
Lee, A. J.: 1995, Islamic Star Patterns, Muqarnas, Vol. 4, pp. 182–197.
Lefebvre, H.: 2004, Rhythmanalysis: space, time, and everyday life, Trans. S. Elden and G. Moore, New York, NY: Continuum.
Lu, P. & Steinhardt, P. J.: 2007, Decagonal and Quasi-Crystalline Tilings in Medieval Islamic Architecture, Science 23: 315(5815) pp. 1106–1110.
Mülayim, S.: 1982 Anadolu Turk Mimarisinde Geometrik Suslemeler (Kultur ve Turizm Bakanligi Yayinlari, Ankara, Turkey).
Necipoğlu, G.: 1995, The Topkapi Scroll-Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture: Topkapi Palace Museum Library MS H. 1956, Santa Monica: The Getty Center for the. History of Art and the Humanities.
Ogel, S.: 1966 Anadolu Selcuklularinin Tas Tezyinati (TTK, Ankara, Turkey).
Ozdural, A.: 2000, Mathematics and Arts: Connections between Theory and Practice in the Medieval Islamic World, Historia Mathematica 27, pp. 171–201.
Özkar, M. & Lefford, N.: 2006, Modal relationships as stylistic features: Examples from Seljuk and Celtic patterns. JASIST 57(11) pp. 1551–1560.
Rasmussen, S. E.: 1959, Experiencing Architecture, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Richards, W., Feldman, J. and Jepson, A.: 1992, “From Features to Perceptual Categories” British Machine Vision Conference 1992 eds. D. Hogg & R. Boyle. (Springer-Verlag, New York).
Shlokovsky, B.: [1925] 1991, “Art as Device,” translated by Benjamin Sher in The Theory of Prose, Bloomington, IL: Dalkey Archive Press.
Stiny, G.: 2006, Shape, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Acknowledgements
All illustrations are by the author. Thanks are due to Whitman Richards, George Stiny, Sibel Tari and Nyssim Lefford for stimulating conversations on the matter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Özkar, M. (2014). Repeating Circles, Changing Stars: Learning from the Medieval Art of Visual Computation. In: Lee, N. (eds) Digital Da Vinci. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0965-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0965-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0964-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0965-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)