FIRST 97 NUMBERS OF THE FIBONACCI

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number ( Fibonacci number ) is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The series begins 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. Despite often being attributed to Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano (referred to as Fibonacci) in 1202, it’s roots actually go back to ancient Indian writings as far back as the 6th century. The sequence has been nicknamed nature’s ‘secret code’ as it seems to exist inherently in the growth development of flowers, plants, trees, shells and so on. It occurs so frequently in nature that many mathematicians over the centuries have believed it to be proof of a divine pattern or structure to the universe.

The painting itself is a simple transcript of the first 97 numbers in the sequence, starting with Zero and ending with Eighty-three quintillion, six hundred and twenty-one quadrillion, one hundred and forty-three trillion, four hundred and eighty-nine billion, eight hundred and forty-eight million, four hundred and twenty-two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven. Rowell’s decision to turn the sequence into a Language Painting is a way of paying homage to perhaps the most important of the ‘Sacred Geometry’ discoveries, epic in scale the painting seeks to reflect the grandeur and importance of the Fibonacci numbers. Just as the sequence provides a universal code for the natural world, the paintings themselves mimic this by creating a universal code for language, reducing it to colour and sequence.

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