Flickr Fruits #36 Psychedelic Biology, Pataphysical Polyhedra & Landform Poetics

Human Sexual Behavior - Masami Teraoka (From Biology Today,1972)
Human Sexual Behavior – Masami Teraoka (From Biology Today, 1972)

50Watts Psychedelic ’72 Textbook set contains images from the first edition of Biology Today published in 1972. The images are notable for their lavish and colourful interpretations of human biological functions and phenomena, and at times the artistic style verges on the surreal. The humanist approach, evident in Masami Teraoka’s illustration echoes the societal changes occurring at the same time, the style of imagery reminding us strongly of poster graphics for psychedelic rock concerts.

Aayacata7 collates a set of antique drawings of polyhedra, and other geometric exotica in his ‘Poliedros en el arte’ set. You will find drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci which were published in Luca Pacioli’s ‘In Divine Proportion’ in 1509. There is a selection of highly crafted regular and semi-regular solids by the German Jamnitzer Wenzel which were published in Perspectiva Corporum Regularium in 1568.

The Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel contains work by an unknown artist which present geometric forms as still life compositions often with birds to create a sense of scale for each object. The balancing puzzle-like forms, pataphysically arranged, might be seen as precursor to the work of the metaphysical and mathematical works of Giorgio de Chirico.

Those who take time to scrutinise earth landforms from the window of a jet airliner in flight will enjoy Sgoralnick’s ‘in Flight’ set. A collection of pathological geomorphologies including alluvial fans, arable farming patchworks patterns, and branching drainage systems.

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