
Embedded Symmetries
Natural and Cultural
Dorothy K. Washburn(Editor)
University of New Mexico Press
Will be published approx. on 30. October 2004
Book
Hardback
189 pages
978-0-8263-3152-6 (ISBN)
Description
The ten participants in this volume explore non-representational patterns from perceptual and cultural perspectives. Archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, and psychologists lend their views on how patterns and symmetry are expressed and resonate in a variety of human relationships and institutions. The authors reveal how symmetric relationships in human visual, verbal, and kinesthetic manifestations are integral to cultural identity. Diane Humphrey uses developmental studies of children and adults to explore how humans learn to recognise and reproduce symmetry. Michael Kubovny and Lars Strother focus on mathematically- and perceptually-based understandings of symmetry while Thomas Wynn uses the production of symmetrical tools as a basis for analysis. Dorothy Washburn attempts to understand why symmetrical representations take the forms they do, and she develops an evolutionary model of the development of representational formats. Anne Paul seeks to understand the logic behind colour and structure of Paracas textiles, and Ed Franquemont examines conceptual expression in Andean weaving. Peter Roe presents evidence that the Amerindian world view can be found in design organisation on ceramic vessels while F. Allan Hanson and Rod Ewins investigate the symmetries of art in Maori and Fijian cultures. Ultimately, this volume hopes to engage multidisciplinary approaches to the study of pattern and symmetry and how they influence human cultural formation and identity.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Albuquerque, NM
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
162 b&w illus
Dimensions
Height: 285 mm
Width: 222 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
808 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8263-3152-6 (9780826331526)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dorothy K Washburn is a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona. She lives in Titusville, New Jersey.
Content
Foreword; Introduction: Embedded Symmetries; Symmetries in Development: The Eye is Quicker than the Hand; The Perception of Band Patterns: Going Beyond Geometry; Evolutionary Developments in the Cognition of Symmetry; The Genesis of Realistic and Patterned Representations; Symmetry Schemes on Paracas Necropolis Textiles; Jazz: An Andean Sense of Symmetry; The Ghost in the Machine: Symmetry and Representation in Ancient Antillean Art; Symmetry for Itself, for Culture and for Practice; Symmetry and Semiotics; Index.