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Project Notes


The most fundamental aspect of my 3D art site is that it has two complementary sides.
The left side, derived from the Divine Comedy, should be viewed as the Western
or Yang or mental or left-hemisphere (of the brain) side of my project, and
the right side, derived from many alternate spiritualities, can be viewed
as the Eastern or Yin or intuitive or right-hemisphere (of the brain)
side of my project. Together they form a whole, like Yang and Yin
in Taoism, or the masculine and feminine in Alchemy.

Someone once concluded that the first canto of the Commedia must be the extra
one (Inferno has 34, Purgatorio 33, and Paradiso 33), and most people since then
have accepted this without question, but I look at the perfect 33, 33, 33 and
see the 34th canto as the extra one. 3 and 9 (Beatrice's number) are Dante's
core numbers. The 34th canto is the doorway to higher worlds. It is the
extra one, so I have made it the basis of my project. 3 is my core
number on the left side, and 4 is my core number on the right
side. 3 and 4, or 34.

My mind is mathematical enough so that it was easy for me to create a new
structure revolving around 4, which is the number of season's, directions,
and ancient elements. This side of my visual poem has 256 stanzas, which
is 4 to the 4th power. If you look at the intervals between sections,
4, 4, 8, 16, 28, 44, 64, and 88 you get 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24,
and if you divide these by 4 you get 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and 6
is a mathematically "perfect" number. Further, the title of this
side is Cyclic Dharma (CD is an inversion of DC), and there are
eight spokes in the Buddhist wheel of dharma, so my topmost
Bliss section is like two wheels of dharma (male and female)
side by side. Further, 256 is also 2 to the 8th power.

4x4x4x4=256

4+4+8+16+28+44+64+88=256
4_4_8_16_28_44_64_88
0_4_8_12_16_20_24
x4
0..1..2...3....4...5....6

Some divide creation into the lower and higher worlds. The mental is the highest
lower world plane, and everything above is pure soul or being. My first plane
above Mental is Light, which starts with 6 spectral color stanzas, red up
through violet, mirroring the idea that creation is vibratory, like the
electro-magnetic specrum. 6 is a perfect number. 28 is the next perfect
number. There are 28 stanzas in my Light section. The other 22 stanzas
are taken from the corresponding stanzas in Paradiso, Phoenix
up through Circles, emphasizing both rebirth and the cyclic
nature of life after life. I repeat this set of 22 themes two
more times in Sound (44 stanzas), further emphasizing the
cyclic nature of life after life. So, this is 3 cycles of
these 22 themes. Add in the set over in Paradiso and
it becomes 4. 3 and 4 again.

(22+22+22+22=88) Bliss (22+22+22+22=88)
[(4*4*4=64) Creation (4*4*4=64)]
(22+22=44) Sound (22+22=44)
(6+22=28) Light (6+22=28)

(16) Mental (16)
(8) Causal (8)
(4) Astral (4)
(4) Physical (4)

Also, you have (or will have) 4 sets of 22 tarot-related themes up above in Bliss (88
stanzas). Again 3 and 4. These 7 sets of 22 on the right side allow me to add in
musical notes. The first set of 22 are in the keys of A major, A minor, and A
major, the second set of 22 in B minor, B major, and B minor, and so on up
through G major. Alternating major and minor in this way alludes to the
Commedia line rhyme structure where the first and third line of each
three-line group rhymes and also rhymes with the middle line of the
next set of three. In the Commedia the topmost canto is God. In
my Cyclic Dharma the topmost stanza will be "World in G(od)"
completing the musical progression from A through G.

Then there is my Creation section between Bliss and Sound. It is in 64 stanzas,
the number of hexagrams in the Taoist I Ching. All of the other stanzas include
the month of creation. Here they do not because timelessness (of being and
creation) are a theme here. The three columns in these stanzas are past,
present, and future, all simultaneous. The hexagram line color
progression, red up through violet, allude not only to the
visible portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum, but also
to the color progression of the body's chakras and to the
evolution of soul's underlying color as it passes through
lives, violet souls no longer incarnating, only serving
as teachers on the other side. Timeless Creation is
between C and D (Divine Comedy / Cyclic Dharma) in
the context of my musical scale progression.

These are a few structural notes. There is more. For example each side of my
visual poem scrolls, like Chinese scroll art. The grouping of sections from
Astral up through Sound, which includes three 22-stanza sub-groupings of
themes drawn from Paradiso, consists of 100 stanzas making it a journey
through heavenly worlds that complements or balances the Commedia
journey. The very right-side, left-side, with the middle different,
mirrors the line structure of the Commedia. Most of the gallery
pages (except for timeless creation) that appear between the
two side strands of my project abstractly resemble a doule
helix with their diamond form. Most of the gallery pages
are in 9 over 9 thumbnail format, relating to Dante's
La Vita Nuova. One exception is Creation where this
9 over 9 takes the form of I Ching hexagrams.
The other is Bliss where 4 addition thumbnails
are inserted yeilding 22 thumbnails in all,
and since the 4 extra pieces are card flip
pieces with 4 images each, or 4 times 4,
the total number of images in the Bliss
galleries is 34, the number of the
canto in Inferno which serves as
a gateway to the higher worlds.

Having said this, I am a visually sensual artist and love color. Compared to other
3D artists, I could be viewed as a 3D expressionist. Some of my pieces change
color, going through the whole spectrum. Counting the four introductory
gallery pages, Inferno (1), Purgatorio (2), Paradiso (3), and Creativo (4),
there are 360 gallery pages, or stanzas, in all, the number of degrees
in a complete circle, making this project whole and complete. What
comes after reaching Paradiso? Being a creator yourself.