1990 Harmonigrams via computer

When I bought my first Apple Macintosh computer around 1990 I also bought the program CANVAS which enabled me to draw a form of Lissajous figures in which the ultimate form could be manipulated by adjustment of the repetitions. The above is one example which has an uncanny similarity to the growth iterations of the nautilus shell – which is really no surprise when you think about it.

Here was another technique for showing the visual results of incremental growth with a small offset. Unfortunately I had to change to a bigger computer in order to accommodate my increasing volume of study only to find that it would not support the canvas program so that line of artistic enquiry ground to a halt.

 

But other areas of interest soon filled the vacuum – retrofitting existing houses for sustainability which offered enormous scope for vitally useful activities but which frustrated me because although it was a potent and rewarding way of beating climate change it was unrecognised by authorities and especially the housing industry. I had found a way of enabling every southern room in a single storey house to receive sunlight at the same time as every northern room – be warmed and made cheerful with absolutely no running cost. There are now 8 houses around the Canberra region which are enable to do this but the silence from the housing industry has been deafening.

See the Environmental series showing 8 WinterSun reflector arrays which were built for aware clients.