Here in Green River, Utah we had the world renowned Australian artist Andrew Roger put together a sculpture he calls the “Golden Ratio”. It is one of three in the world. It is a pyramid of blocks created according to the mathematical rule of the golden ratio. According to Wikipedia, “In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one.”
This ratio, is also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, or golden section, is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in simple geometric figures such as the pentagon. The fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio are intimately interconnected. Both are found in nature, for instance, a slice through a Nautilus shell reveals golden spiral construction principle, the length of the bones in a human finger, the number of pedals of a flower, the seemingly random sequence of sunflower seed, or the way the pine cone spines spiral on a closed pine cone.
Why the golden ratio? The golden ratio and/or fibonacci sequence is used in art and architecture all the time. These mathematical rules have a subtle aesthetic that makes most nature, art and architecture pleasing to the eye, so much so that we can’t explain it but we like it.
The sculpture can be seen from the railroad, highway and from numerous places from in town. It is an impressive structure made up of 53 blocks of enormous size (which are also based on the this ratio), two of which are black and a gold leafed block to cap the top.
You can see more of Andrew Rogers work at www.andrewrogers.com.