“Propharator”, a physical and imaginative work of art.

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“Proparator” is a line of artistic tree stakes covering a distance of 1597 metres, but this physical and highly imaginable line covers the entire world as the line continues with no end.

The intervals of the stakes are determined by the Fibonacci numbers, which intervals is equivalent to the Golden ratio, an important principle both in art and nature to create a feeling of harmony.

 

Every stake is made from small trees found at the site, but painted in a characteristically white and black pattern, which distinguish them from their surroundings and clearly indicate that they are not only made by nature but also transformed by man.

 

Artist´s inspiration

The inspiration for this work came from two sources. One is the Fibonacci numbers who connect art and nature, and shows that the human feeling of harmony is closely related to nature and visual perception. It also indicates that what we regard as beautiful not entirely is a social construction but also is based on human experience beyond time, place and culture. The second inspiration is how the nature in our time is measured not only by hand- drawn maps and compass, but also by gps, satellite and radar. This way of perceiving the landscape is in deep contrast to the former way of seeing and measuring nature, based on markings naturally placed in the terrain. This can be border stones with carvings, big trees left to be easily recognised because of their size and age, small creeks and so on. This new way of measuring nature also gave me the opportunity to rather precisely place my stakes in the pattern I wished, only recognizable when seen on a map and only understood when you are told the connection between them.

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Materials:

 

17 stakes made from local trees painted with non-toxic acrylic paint spaced in a line based on the Fibonacci numbers, covering a span of 1597 metres. The stakes are 170 – 210 cm high with a diametre of ca. 10 -12 cm.

 

The title “Propharator” is an acronym made form the words proportion, harmony and generator.

 

The Fibonacci numbers or sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55... aso) was first described to Western European mathematics by the Italian Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci, in his 1202 book “Liber Abaci”. It is characterized by the fact that every number after the first two is the sum of the two preceding ones.