Octave Flower, 2022

In a philosophy discussion group that I was part of, we spent a term discussing the philosophical insights that the Octave provides into the nature of being human. The discussion prompted a long enquiry that has resulted in my creating ‘Octave Flower’, and ‘Octave Circle’.

 The Octave is based on natural law, so it reflects the way the universe works – and as such it can help us to understand our own feelings and inclinations at various points of engagement with ideas or actions.

The spacing between the notes of an octave is irregular – i.e. not mathematically the same. This seems to give each note a particular characteristic – both in and of itself, and relative to the other notes in the octave.

The points in the scale where the rate of increase (or decrease) of frequency slows down (Mi-Fa and Si-Do) are called ‘intervals’, where extra energy is required to maintain the original impetus.

The suggestion is that if the decision to act, and the conclusion of the action is considered through the prism of an octave, then there will be ‘intervals’ where the momentum drops off, and will require conscious effort on our part to complete the task – and that understanding this as a phenomena can be helpful in completing the intended action.

The discussion resonated (pardon the pun) with me, and I was inspired to make something that explored the idea. Clearly you associate an octave with hearing – or seeing written down as notes. It’s not something you visualise, but as a visual artist, I wanted to create something that might keep the idea in mind.

I went to the circle as the basic form (I like the resonances of circle, and actually I also think it’s entirely appropriate for this enquiry). It felt important that the circles should move – both individually and relative to each other – to reflect constancy and change in nature, so both sculptures rotate on the vertical axis.

The relative size of each element of the sculpture, and the spacing between them is the same as the mathematical spacing between the notes of an octave.

I hope these sculptures serve both as aesthetically pleasing objects, and as a reminder of an aspect of being human.