A submission I've been thinking about... Posted by John on March 10, 1998 at 13:47:04:
Well, I was thinking (amazing), and I realized that many of M. C. Escher's works involve geometric shapes... These shapes have confoundedm, interested, perplexed, fascinated, etc... man since the beginning of time. Look at the various pyramids found all over the earth, for example. Escher's picture depict these figures in modern or abstract contexts, essentially relating the ancient ideas of geometry to the present time.
One particular work that I was contemplating was Double Planetoid. This work depicts a planet made of two intersecting tetrahedrons, one being civilized and the other prehistoric. Whereas this particular picture is not the best representation of Escher's appreciation for geometric solids (I would have chosen Stars if that was the only relationship I wanted to build), it does show something about modern man's ideas that I find somewhat significant to the main theme. It seems to show that the two worlds, although cnnected, have no relationship with each other beyond the physical bonds between them. In fact, in a quote, Escher states that the two worlds, "have no knowledge of each other." It seems as if this work is saying that man is out-of-touch, our-of-synch, with the ideas of the past. This seems to relate with the theme "Ancient Ideas in Modern Times" because ancient ideas exist in out modern times, but many fail to see them... Or it can be stated that people still have ancient ideas but like to believe they are civilized ideas. Comment away.
John