Triangles and the World of Art

SEPTEMBER 2024 TRIANGLES WEBINAR –

TRIANGLES AND THE WORLD OF THE ARTS [Slide 0=Triangles]

Hello dear friends, In the context of this meeting, we would like to discuss the theme of Triangles in the world of art. We will try to see if and how Triangles and the profound meaning we know them to have, can interfere and maintain a relationship with Art. From the outset, the shape of a triangle can inspire a symbolic theme, but before considering it in this way, let us try to imagine how an artist might feel when faced with a blank page in front of him or her. For some people, a blank page can evoke an anguishing emptiness that can even momentarily paralyse a creative impulse waiting to manifest itself. However, a classic blank page is generally rectangular or square in shape, and we will limit ourselves to choosing one of these two shapes. So, we are in front of this blank page, chosen to be rectangular, and we are wondering what is going to happen from there? In an art academy, we learn that there is a stage where our attention is drawn to the commonly recognised fact that in a blank page lines of force are inscribed, implied or perceived. They may not be visible, but they are felt, intellectually or even intuitively. For example, the angle at the bottom left is thought to be polarised as doubly negative. Its opposite, at the top right, is seen as doubly positive. The corner at the top left is both positive and negative, as is its opposite at the bottom right. Generally, when a drawing, a painting or even an engraving is undertaken to represent one or more characters or objects, there is a kind of convention inviting us to imagine that the source of light comes from the top left-hand corner of the page. From then on, the shadows cast will be conditioned by this subjective source of light!

[Slide 1] Let us go back to an example that was proposed in the Beacon a few years ago. This example has the merit of being representative to illustrate what has just been proposed. Let us take the painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault – a French 18th century painter.

[Slide 2] We see that the central theme occupies the middle of the painting, and the viewer can feel that there are three pyramids of people and human bodies in distress, while the tallest figure, surrounded by others, is looking towards the right-hand corner, near the top of the painting where, on the horizon of the sea, there is a small pointed structure that might evoke a boat in the distance... A boat that is still very small. A boat... therefore possible salvation. We can also see, however, that the sail of this makeshift raft is inflated by the wind as if to push it to the left. Thus, giving the raft an orientation towards the bottom left of the work, that is to say towards the minus-minus polarity, hence conferring all the dramatic intensity playing out at this level. We could add, as a possibility – even though this is not the case for this painting –, that if the small dot representing a boat and possible deliverance, in the top right-hand corner, had been in the bottom left-hand corner, the strength of the message developed would have been lost because the polarity of the page or the painting would not have been exploited in the right way. And then, as we said, all the characters and the raft with its sail are set in three triangles, as if to further emphasise the lines of force we were talking about earlier.

[Slide 3] Now let us go back to our blank page. We have understood that it is polarised. If we then draw lines between the polarities, that is to say between the bottom left and the top right, and then similarly between the top left and the bottom right, we see that we get four triangles touching at the point in the middle of the page. With a certain spatial vision and by exploiting these construction lines, we could imagine in this diagram a letter ‘M’ (in orange) resting on the two vertical edges on the left and right of the page, which would play the role of the verticals of this letter... which is, let's not forget, the second letter of the sacred word ‘OM’! We would like to give another example of a painting in which the characters are circumscribed, structured and staged within a triangle. It is interesting to feel the impact of these construction lines and their influences in the distribution of the characters.

[Slide 4] Here is the painting: This is a painting by Raphael: "Canigiani Holy Family." So, there was a time when these geometric construction lines, in this case triangular, were used to arrange the elements in a painting, or an engraving, or even a sculpture. What about all this in more contemporary painting? We might venture to say that there is a kind of search for a simplification in a work in order to remove elements considered to have become superfluous. This, in order to rediscover the lines of force in their purity. In this sense, we think of Paul Klee, for example, or Kandinsky. A bit like an architect drawing the construction lines of a plan, without going any further.

[Slide 5] What is more, we realise that another element comes into play, and that is the notion of rhythm between these basic shapes such as squares, triangles, curved lines and so on.

Slide 6] Let us go back to Kandinsky. In his book Point, Line, Plane, published in 1926, Kandinsky gave the results of an investigation into a possible relationship between the three basic geometric shapes and the three primary colours. A questionnaire asked respondents (teachers and students at the Bauhaus School of Art) to link the circle, the square and the triangle with the three primary colours capable of reinforcing the qualities of each of the three shapes.

[Slide 7] The circle was thus associated with blue, the square with red and the triangle with yellow. We need to remain open-minded about this question, however, as the experiment was repeated in 2018, with the result that the circle was associated with red, the square with blue and the triangle with red. But the experiment is interesting. We could even deduce that the triangular shape and the other shapes must also have a relationship with sound, since colour also expresses a sound. And while we are talking about the subject of colour in relation to the shape of the triangle, let us consider the famous experiment in which a glass prism is placed in front of a ray of sunlight to see the light subdivided into seven colours.

[Slide 8] In reality, there is a profound spiritual message here. The white light passing through the prism is divided into seven colours, not to mention the ranges going into the infrared and on the opposite side, into the ultraviolet. If we were to reverse the process, the seven colours would be synthesised by the prism, and they would once again form the universal white colour of the sun. What happens at this level? The colours are emitted and mixed with each other, and this gives Light – white light. The emission of colours is understood as a ‘gift’ at this level. If on the contrary, we mix the colours of the painter, as they come out of the tube, they will tend towards black because there is absorption. On the one hand, there is a gift and on the other, we absorb, we keep and it becomes ... black! Could the triangle be a vector giving light a sublimated expression?

[Slide 9] Let us return to another means of expressing this timeless form that the ancient Egyptians, in their wisdom, were able to approach and express through the pyramids. The most remarkable of which, is the pyramid of Cheops... as it was named in Egyptology. In this example, it is interesting to see that four triangles together form the square base of a pyramid, whose mathematical relationships of size are like so many symbolic messages, the outcomes and amendments of which are difficult for us to interpret objectively. The Triangle, therefore, carries a symbolic message in addition to its artistic force. We have also said that it is timeless. When art meets architecture, we see that the triangles assembled to form a pyramid have made a rendezvous in the courtyard of the Palais du Louvre in Paris, thanks to the talent of the Chinese American architect Leoh Ming Pei. The monument was inaugurated by François Mitterrand in 1983. It puts transparency in the spotlight in a remarkable way that contrasts with the ancient architecture of the Louvre Palace but without disfiguring it. On the contrary, it is a synthesis of two ages that result into an admirable creative unity. In this example, we find the richness of the forms of the palace and the simplicity of the pyramid, like an invitation to go straight to the essence of the matter. It was designed by Ming Pei to be a well of light opening onto the main entrance of the Louvre.

[Slide 10] It is impressive to see, vertically above this glass pyramid, another pyramid, inverted, pointing downwards, the end of which evokes a focal point almost touching a pyramidion, in other words, a third pyramid, this one mineral and small in size. At this point, we would like to allow ourselves a parallel with esoteric science and this sculpture formed of three pyramids inverted with respect to each other. Allow us to propose here the mantram of the will and risk seeing through it, an analogy: In the centre of the Will of God I stand. Naught shall deflect my will from His. I implement that will by love. I turn towards the field of service. I, the Triangle divine, work out that will Within the square and serve my fellowmen. We began this reflection with a blank page and the lines of force based on the angles of the sheet. These angles were seen as polarised, positively and negatively, as well as ‘plus minus’ and ‘minus plus’. Then we saw that if lines were drawn from these four corners, four triangles would appear, touching at the point in the middle of the page. Now let us do a visualisation exercise: let us considerably enlarge the blank page. Let's imagine that this page, with its main lines of force, is subdivided into smaller parcels converging towards centres from which other lines of force are drawn, but always starting from a well-established grid. Thus, we could obtain the map of a city. Paris, seen from the air, evokes such a grid. But as you probably know, eminent personalities have left their mark on history by laying down plans for cities such as Brussels in Europe and Washington DC in the United States of America. These personalities from Freemasonry thus sought to use certain sets of lines of force to place monuments and illustrious buildings in key places at these crossroads, as if to give the buildings concerned an intensity of force determined by the organisation of this planning.

[Slide 11] Let us take as an example, with a very short description of part of Washington DC: “The city is a representation of unity, as it symbolically brought together the union of the thirteen colonies fighting for independence. Washington was mapped as an earthly reflection of the celestial canopy above, designed with over thirty different zodiacs corresponding to the constellations of the sky. Pennsylvania Avenue stretched a kilometre west from the Capitol to the White House and, by ‘coincidence’, is oriented towards the rise and movement in the sky of the star Sirius. Using Dupont and Logan's circles as the north point, we can draw various interlocking streets to form a star, including the White House at 1600 Pannsylvania Avenue.”

Let us take another look at art in another form, another concept that will also be our conclusion. Whether an artistic work is large or small, we have seen that it is the manifestation of an idea moving from the inside out. Then, as we went along, a word came to mind, the word: ‘symbol’. For the human mind, a symbol expresses an idea. Through this webinar, the Triangle has shown us the extent to which it is involved in the composition of various symbols to intensify their evocative power. But ‘evocation’ goes hand in hand with ‘invocation’. It may therefore be appropriate at this point to recall a line from the Triangles meditation: “We identify ourselves as a Soul, as functioning between the three great planetary centres: Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity, as one great Triangle of Light.” Through this practice, we strive to go from the outside inwards, visualising the Triangle of the Soul and entering into union with it. We will conclude this talk by presenting this passage from Alice Bailey's book From Intellect to Intuition:

“This is fundamentally the meaning of Patanjali when he uses the expression translated “spiritual reading.” It really signifies reading with the eyes of the soul, with the inner vision alert to find out that which is sought. It is realized that all forms are only symbols of an inner or spiritual reality, and spiritual reading involves the development of the faculty of "reading" or seeing the life aspect which the outer form veils and hides. This will be found to apply equally to a human form as to any other form in nature; all forms veil a divine thought, idea, or truth and are the tangible manifestation of a divine concept. When a man knows this, he begins to read spiritually, to see below the surface and so contact the idea which gave birth to the form.”

From the above, we therefore see a close relationship between the Soul, the mind and the brain, which represent a fundamental Triangle enabling us to be guided by intuition and to understand that true art consists in seeing the perfection behind all created forms. Thanks to all of you.