Platonic Lambda

Basis for this animation is Gregor Reisch' woodcut 'Arithmetica' from his work Margarita Philosophica (The Pearl of Philosophy), Freiburg 1503. It illustrates the Genesis from Platos dialogue Timaeus, where the Demiurg (world creator) uses the two continous four term proportions 1-2-4-8 and 1-3-9-27. They are so called geometric progressions (like the golden ratio) and they come together in the Lambda symbol. In the video the numbers are interpreted as frequencies whereas the ancients would have calculated string lengths (which would give the reverse side of the same structure) or fractions of string lengths which give the equivalent of the frequency structure. These two values are inversions of eachother. The chosen fundamental is C=64 Hz, the piano is in pythagorean tuning (tones generated by perfect fifths) A=432 Hz.
The musical perspective is followed by the geometrical: first by a look at the numbers represented by figures: the squares and cubes of 2 and 3.
After that follows a travel through dimensions from point via line, square and cube to hypercube, representing the fourth dimension. A pattern with resemblances of Eulers polyhedra formula reveals itself.
Conceived and presented by Skye Lofvander
More to be found (in danish) at: http://www.detspringendepunkt.net