REDSTARTstudio

On January 17, 2008 NBS & PCS, accompanied by Ani, trudged across the frozen marsh to inspect the remains of “The Fort”. It might be recalled that in December of 2005 an epic battle, replete with manly (and canine) exploits, took place at this location. The conflict was short and exhausting. There were no deaths, either physical or spiritual to report, and no wounds were inflicted. The cause or causes of the battle remain lost to time. The grizzled veterans are silent on all accounts. But as these explorers bore witness to, the skeleton of the fort still stands as a stark reminder of their valiant exploits.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
– Thucydides  (c.460 – 400 BC)

Inspired by the observations of Dominique Douat in 1722, these 2 animations explore 48 of the “infinite” number of 90° rotational permutations of 4 variants (ABCD) of a square diagonally divided into 2 triangles.

For both sets my layout was as follows:

ABCD BCDA CDAB DABC ACDB BDAC
CABD DBCA ADBC BACD CBDA DCAB
ABDC BCAD CDBA DACB ACBD BDCA
CADB DBAC ADCB BADC CBAD DCBA

Here’s the complete title of Douat’s publication:

Dominique Douat, Methode pour faire une infinité de desseins differents avec des carreaux mipartis de deux couleurs par une ligne diagonale : ou observations du Pere Dominique Douat Religieux Carmes de la Province de Toulouse sur un memoire inséré dans l’Histoire de l’Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris l’année 1704, présenté par le Reverend Sebastien Truchet religieux du même ordre, Academicien honoraire, imprimé chez Jacques Quillau, Imprimeur Juré de l’Université, Paris 1722.

And some notes on Douat and his methods:
http://www.log24.com/theory/040129-Douat.html

1-24:

25-48:

Back in 2001, I filmed John Slavonic “measuring” a section of the marsh at Limantour Beach in Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

These two timelapse films were taken last February nearing the end of the rainy season in the Bay area. A volunteer and a student set up the camera inside the greenhouse pointing out the window at a portion of El Cerrito Creek that is daylighted and passes through Blake Garden. As you can see from the videos, the creek is heavily impacted by urban runoff.  The water level rises and falls quickly during a rainstorm.

A visit to the Bulb earlier this year. JBS was visiting from Maine. The Bulb can be a good place to see shorebirds so she brought her binoculars. Lots of clearing had been going on, and a section of the neck is now fenced off for “Owl Habitat Restoration”. Some great new sculptures by Osha Neuman.

Between 1994 and 2000 I became very interested in the “quality” of numbers, particularly when they become arranged in certain orders. While reading W.S. Andrews Magic Squares and Cubes (published in 1908) I came across the Jaina equilibrium square which “represents a distribution of the figure values in what might be called absolute equilibrium.” This discovery informed a large body of work which included prints, drawings and constructions. The square and it’s 16 permutations provided a constructional and decorative foundation for these works, and, at the time, the avenues down which I was traveling seemed endless … Some drawings c.1999:

The Albany Bulb as it was in March of 2003. Sniff paintings were still quite vibrant. Jeff & Tracey just moved from Maine to Oakland and they joined us for a hike around the bulb.