1.Michel Tombroff

Sectio Aurea

2018Wooden panels, wooden sticks, acrylic paint2 pcs, 1: 124 x 82 x 5 cm

The golden ratio $$\phi$$ (phi) is one of the best-known mathematical concepts applied to the arts.

Also known as the divine proportion or the golden section (Latin: Sectio Aurea), this number is worth approximately 1.618033… It is an irrational number, which means that it is not equal to the ratio of two integers.

Previously known to the Egyptians, the Greeks thought it represented the perfect proportion: a rectangle of length $$l$$ and height $$h$$ was considered aesthetically ideal and balanced if $$\frac{l}{h}=\phi$$.

For more than 2,400 years, the golden ratio has fascinated mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Euclid and Kepler, as well as artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Bela Bartok, and architects such as Le Corbusier.

This sculpture illustrates the dialectic between the seemingly random nature of the decimals of $$\phi$$, represented by wooden sticks, and the sensual aesthetic experience of proportion that this number represents.