A --- Aesthetic

It is the first of April and today for the first time,I become a part of  A to Z blog challenge.

Thank you Arlee Bird for putting up this wonderful blog challenge.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that deals with nature of art , beauty and taste with the creation and appreciation of beauty.

Ever wondered why do certain things seem more beautiful than the others ? Any discussion about aesthetics is incomplete without a  special mention of  the Golden proportion.  

I recently came across an article stating that Aston-Martin,  has designed  the  new Rapid-s  car, from  boot to bonnet as per the Golden proportion. According to New York Times,

 “The golden ratio sits at the heart of every Aston Martin,” the company says. “Balanced from any angle, each exterior line of Rapide S works in concert and every proportion is precisely measured to create a lithe, pure form. 

What is the connection between Aesthetics and the Golden proportion ?

A visual form is most aesthetically pleasing when it possesses  golden mean proportions. Visual forms,natural or man made, have been found to confirm to this ratio, be it a beautiful flower such as  rose ...

                         

                                  OR..for that matter , a cauliflower with a proportionate whorl !

The Golden proportion has found its use in the world of art and architecture as well. Literature says that Leonardo da Vinci's  'Vtiruvian man' correlates ideal proportions in the human body to those in Geometry that Roman architect Vitruvius described in his book on architecture.

I am not into architecture ,neither do I claim an expertise in photography. Numbers are not my best of friends  and I reluctantly buried the idea of pursuing Architecture as my career choice after failing the practical entrance test long ago. 

However,faces intrigue me and I love smiles. I study faces and smiles daily and my profession as a Prosthodontist  allows me to do so.

The face forms the golden proportion, with eyes in the centre.The mouth and nose,the eyes and mouth, the width of the face between the zygoma to the width of the nose, all fit into the golden proportion. This according to experts is the secret to beauty. Anything that deviates from the golden ratio looks less appealing.

Facial proportions 

This universal  ratio is 1: 1.6 .The golden number is 'phi' and numerically it is 1.168.

When I learnt about smile designing,the first assignment I did was collecting photographs of hundreds of perfect and not so perfect smiles. Understanding the concept of aesthetics with the golden proportion as the stepping stone was easy ,so was creating smiles within the parameters of this magical ratio. Smile after beautiful smiles later, I grew sceptical ,when I was unable to exactly 'fit' into the golden concept and yet was able to achieve awesome results .

 Literature is agog with articles trashing the Golden proportion of aesthetics. Many have rubbished the concept as  fundamentally absurd .Beauty can not be confined to a number, they believe .Confusion prevails.... 

As Theodore cook said ,- "There is no short cut to the beautiful, no formula for the creation of the perfect."

A beautiful smile !

As for me, I love to observe, talk to my patient ,understand his ideas about his own smile ,make notes, and then reconstruct the smile . Golden proportion gives me that dependable base to build a wonderful smile. The final  aesthetic result  may or may not fit into the Golden proportion, but if it lights up a face and I get a  smile in return ,then I am in a happy space.

Even if aesthetics are not the mathematics of beauty, they are the proof of the calculation.

-Franz Grillparzer

This is for A to Z April Challenge. 

 Images :courtesy Google images