Christopher Bartlett
Artists
Christopher Bartlett
Professor Emeritus of Art
Towson University
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Statement
Beyond the Golden ratio (Phi), a Mercury ratio (Chi)...? Bartlett's meta-golden Chi or Mercury ratio is a unique mathematical constant related to the golden ratio and other metallic means. One of the reasons this meta-golden Mercury ratio is a pleasing number, with remarkable geometric properties similar to the golden ratio, is that a rectangle of width 1 and a length of chi can be divided into a rectangle proportional to the original rectangle and a golden ratio rectangle. Recall the golden rectangle divides into a square and a golden rectangle. The precise ratio for the Mercury or Chi rectangle is 1+√(4phi+5)/(2phi) or approximately 1.355…
Artworks
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Cornish Coast
54 x 40 cm
acrylic on canvas
2015
This painting is a practical application of the meta-golden Mercury or Chi ratio rectangle. Its composition is constructed using an armature that yields golden ratio divisions, consequent squares and χ-ratio rectangles.
The more compact aspect ratio of this rectangle presents an appealing contemporary shape for art and design with the same generative properties as the golden rectangle itself.