Recursion,
Variation,
Symmetry
&
Survival

Another Big Idea
!

Another Big Idea

Another Big Idea
!
Look for the
BIG-EYED-DEER

Another Big Idea
!
Ahem… Look for the
BIG IDEA

S
C
TI
E
TH
ES
A Van Gough’s Barber

CS
I
ET
H
ST
E
A
Today: The Parthenon in
Athens

Today: The Parthenon in
Athens (Int.)

Capitol Rotunda

The White House

U.S. Supreme Court

The ’Burbs

Rendition of the Parthenon

“Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty, That is All Ye Know on Earth and
All Ye Need to Know.” Keats

A Post-Modern
Journey Toward
Truth
and
Advice for
Progress

STATIC
&
DYNAMIC
QUALITY

Two Archetypes

STATIC
Same
Stable
Status Quo
Theme
Logical
Chorus
Classical
Establishment
Past
Recursive
Finite
Traditional
Symmetrical
Republican ?

STATIC DYNAMIC
Same Different
Stable Unstable
Status Quo Change
Theme Plot
Logical Emotional
Chorus Verse
Classical Romantic
Establishment Populist
Past Future
Recursive Linear
Finite Infinite
Traditional Untradtional
Symmetrical Amorphous
Republican ? Democrat ?

STATIC DYNAMIC
TASK: Provide an archetypal analysis of
this scene using the meaning of the
circular and spiral imagery in your
interpretation.

STATIC DYNAMIC
College
Democracy Content
Work
Government
Form
Order
Chaos
Heart
Living Dead
Head
Rest
Revolution
Pepsi ® Kids
Back
Front
Stagnation
Home
Coke ®
Monarchy

STAGNATION
CHAOS

OR
DEATH

“In the survival
of favoured
individuals and
races, during
the constantly- WHO SAID IT?
recurring
struggle for
existence, we
see a powerful
and ever-acting
form of
selection.”

“In the survival of
favoured
individuals and
races, during the
constantly-
recurring
struggle for
existence, we
see a powerful
and ever-acting
form of
selection.”
Charles Darwin (1809-1892)

Nature’s PARADOX:
The ORDER is
dependant on
CHANGE.

Much like at

The ORDER is also
dependant on
CHANGE

AUXESIS

I wish I had
an

MUTATION

RECURSION
and
VARIATION
IN NATURE

SYNESTHESIA
Q: If we
could see
an echo,
what would
it look like?

Recursion
is the property or quality
of self-reference.

TONY SAYS…
Recursion is the ULTIMATE
EXTREME in SYMMETRY
Any original
variation is
duplicated and
never changes.

ST
ST
YL
YL
Q: Which literary
E
E
AL
AL
term is the most
ER
ER
recursive?
T!
T!
( TWO POINTS to YOU if you are
the first to raise your hand and
answer correctly… )

A:
Epizeuxis

Symmetry

Dolly the sheep
clone dies young

The first clone
was named,
after me…

It was called
Dolly Lamb “A”
‘Cause I’m
Number One!

Scientists Succeed in
Cloning Human Embryo
Most cloning is carried out by a
process known as nuclear
transfer, where the nucleus is
removed from an egg and
replaced with the nucleus of the
animal to be cloned. Here, the
nucleus is removed from a cell.
NPR’S All Things Considered
February 12, 2004

Click for Fractal Video

Click for Self-Recursion loop
All M.C. Escher works © Cordon Art-Baarn-the Netherlands
Development II 1939 woodcut in brown, grey-green and black, printed from 3 blocksIterative

Transcript of scene from Being John Malkovich
Malkovich: Excuse me, exactly what type of service does this company provide?
Man: You get to be John Malkovich for 15 minutes. 200 clams.
Malkovich: I see
(Malkovich runs to the front of the line. Man shouts “And no cutting, by the way!” A fight
ensues, Craig breaks it up)
Craig: Break it up, Break it up! Oh, I hope we didn’t hurt you
Malkovich: Get inside! What the hell is going on?
Craig: John! Mr. Malkovich! Sir! (Maxine laughs) . . . Mr. Malkovich I think I can explain
Malkovich: Yeah! Explain!
Craig: My name is Craig Schwartz, and we operate a little business here that simulates
for our clientele the experience, well, well, of being you, actually.
Malkovich: Simulates?
Craig: Yeah, after a fashion.
Malkovich: What exactly does that mean?
Craig: Well, it’s hard to describe.
Malkovich: I want to do it, then.
Craig: Well, I’m sure it pales in comparison to the actual experience.
Malkovich: I WANT TO DO IT!
Craig: Well, right now, Mr. Hiroshi is in the tube
Maxine: Let him do it, Craig.
Craig: Of course, right this way Mr. Malkovich, compliments of the house.
(Malkovich enters his “portal”)
Craig: What happens when a man goes in his own portal?
Maxine: We’ll see…

(Malkovich is sucked down the tube
and enters his own mind)
(Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich
Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich
Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich
Malkovich )

Recursion, Symmetry and Numerals
SCHNAPPSZAHL???

Recursion, Symmetry and Numerals
SCHNAPPSZAHL is
A German word for a number containing
a striking pattern of unexpected
symmetry.
We have no English counterpart.

Recursion, Symmetry and Numerals
SCHNAPPSZAHL
A German word for a number containing a
striking pattern of unexpected symmetry :
Birthdate: 04-04-44
Time: 11:11 a.m.
Price tag: $19.91

What is…
SYN TAX

SYN TAX
1 a : the way in which linguistic elements (as
words) are put together to form constituents (as
phrases or clauses)
…
2 : a connected or orderly system : harmonious
Merriam-
arrangement of parts or elements
Webster
Dictionary

SYNTAX: from the Greek roots…
SYN TAX
Ταξις
συν
TOGETHER SEQUENCE /
ORDER

Symmetry, Recursion and SYNTAX
S
C
TI
E
TH
ES
A TASK: Create a creative,
artistic rendering of your
assigned literary term. Your
artwork must clearly reflect
the symmetry denoted in the
term.

Symmetry, Recursion and SYNTAX
TASK: Create an artistic rendering of your assigned term. Your
artwork MUST clearly reflect the symmetry denoted in the term.
iamb
alliteration
diazeugma
anadiplosis
prozeugma
anaphora
hypozeugma
assonance
epizeuxis
auxesis
polysyndeton
blank verse
chiasmus
palindrome
epistrophe
trochee

Symmetry
&
VARIATION
IN NATURE

Symmetry

Symmetry in nature

Symmetry without Recursion?

The Persistence of Memory
1931
Symmetry without Recursion?

Salvador Dali
Surrealist Painter
(1904-1989)

Why might
underlying
form be so
innately
appealing to
us?

LIGHT, SOUND
&
MATTER have
Common Origins

S
IC
S
HY
AP
T
ME

BIG EYEDEA from PLATO:
Man, nature and the universe are connected
in orderly ways not readily apparent to the
senses.

BIG EYEDEA ???

Q: What did the
Dalai Lama
say to the
hotdog vendor?

A: Make
me One
with
everything.

?

A Salvador-Dali-Llama

And another…

BIG IDEA:
Man, nature and the universe are connected
in orderly ways not readily apparent to the
senses.

Synesthesia: from the
Synesthesia
Greek roots
syn (together)
aesthesis (perception)

Now it’s time for a poem
that really stinks…

“SYNESTHESIA”
Ties can be loud
Cheese can be sharp
A note can Bb .
But can you smell a rainbow harp?

CHROMATIC
1. A musical scale ascending or
descending by semitones (half-steps).
2. Anything relating to or produced by color.

CHROMATIC
1. A musical scale ascending or
descending by semitones (half-steps).
2. Anything relating to or produced by color.
— ORIGIN Greek khromatikos, from
khroma ‘colour, chromatic scale’.

CHROMATIC
1. A musical scale ascending or
descending by semitones (half-steps).
2. Anything relating to or produced by color.
— ORIGIN Greek khromatikos, from
khroma ‘colour, chromatic scale’.
Sound n’ colors have
always been “tied” BOTH are
measured in
together. WAVELENGTHS
.

Ya.
Even Zins Zee
Beeg Bang.

Very Distraughtening
from Lumpy Gravy
I HEAR YOU’VE BEEN HAVING TROUBLE WITH PIGS
AND PONIES…
Everything in the universe is, is, is
made of one element,
Which is a note, a single note.
Atoms are really vibrations, you know.
Which are extensions of the big note,
everything’s one note.
Everything, even the ponies.
The note, however, is the ultimate
power,
…
Frank Zappa
You mean just we know that?
Post-Modern Composer
Right! (1940-1993)

SEEING SOUND

W. Kandinksy
(1866-1944)
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

S
C
TI Yes, there really is
E
TH symmetry and balance
ES
A
in this “mess.”
Modernist Composer
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

A key signature is a
traditional way of
establishing order in
a composition
allowing for uniform
harmony among
instruments.
Modernist Composer
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

But the key thing, is
that there is no key…
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

…signature in my
atonal music.
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

A From Greek:. a-, short for apo
\"away from.\"
Gk. tonos \"vocal pitch,
TONAL raising of voice,
accent, key in music,\"
originally \"a stretching,
taut string.”
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

Q: So, without using the
old rules, how can a
modernist composer
create order and avoid
total chaos?
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

A: Go back to nature as the
Greeks did, but this time, look
around for some new natural,
proportional rules to follow.
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

12-Tone Scale
Modernist Composer
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

Original tone row in “Prime Form”
from Suite, Opus 25, Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

Retrograde
Form
Notes are in
reverse as in
a mirror
image.

Inverted Retrograde
Form Inverted Form
“Upside “Backwards and
Down” Upside Down”

Original

Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

Must a work
What’s the BIG
sound or look
IDEA?
pretty for it to
be beautiful?
Opus 25
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

Nope.
Opus 25
Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)

And being
BEAUTIFUL
does not
necessarily
mean…

… being
Pretty.
“Let no one ever
come
to you without
leaving better
and happier. ”

Beautiful 1910-1997