CIRCLEs & SACRED SYMBOLISM.

Through out my researching process, circles in particular have played a big part in the shaping of my ideas, and how I have tried to link my final space to the more natural sites I have been visiting through my journey of human resonance. Circles have a history of meanings, they are the ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness and infity. The circle also symbolises the female form; the womb, the internal space of a person. The earth-centred religions through out history as well as contemporary pagans have used it to represent the feminine spirit and force, the cosmos and the spirital presence of Mother Earth, the bearer of nature. Circles also have a lot of associations with the spiritual world and have been used through out history within prehistoric scared architecture. Looking at them from a sonic viewpoint, circles allow spaces to flow and for the sound to travel around its rounded walls, spiralling upwards. All the sites I have visited with resonance have had circular shapes inside them that make the spaces as reverberant as they are.

The labyrinth has also played a part in my final concept. The labyrinth is a single, meandering path leading to the centre of a circle. The labyrinth forms away from the maze, it is a place you cannot loose yourself but leads to only one destination, the centre. The labyrinth as a form also represents a spiritual space, as a shape it is linked to prayer and meditation, a personal awakening and a metaphor to a spiritual journey and path. It symbolises understanding of spiritual life and transformation of the soul. The space I have designed for degree show will also form like a labyrinth, turning the space into a room-sized instation that takes you to the centre of the circle, where within it the space reveals itself, its purpose to you and transforms you within it, it takes you to the source and soul of the piece.

As part of my research into sacred shapes, I came across the terminology and study of 'scared geometry' which looks at the natural and organic forms that take shape in our universe. Sacred Geometry is imbedded in all earth's creations and is a universal pattern used in the design of everything in our world, most often seen in sacred architecture and sacred art. The basic relief is that geometry and mathmatical ratios, harmonics and proportion are also found in music, light and cosmology. This value system has been wide spead and seen in prehistory, in the very first monuments built by civilisation, representing a cultural and universal understanding and language of our human condition. It is considered foundational to building a sacred structure such as stemples, mosques, megaliths, monuments and chirchrd. these meeting space are incongaphed by using 'divine' proportions. Sacred geometry can also be found in artistic practices, such as time based and ephemeral art. Sacred geometry may be understood as a world view of pattern recognition a complex systems of religious symbols and sturtures, involving, space, time and form. 

This research and study of shapes, linking to the sacred sites that I have been visiting, has helped me to visualize my final space for the show. I want to encompass this research into my space, by creating my own sacred space in which I can project my experiences of site. The design of my degree show space has taken inspiration from these ancient symbols. I have built the space like a labyrinth with a circle in the centre of the room. The structure forms from the walls of the room, leading the public strait into the centre of the space. Then placed around the circle will be the 6 pipes, which will be installed to create a ring, forming on the outskirts of the space. The pipes will slightly extrude above the earth, revealing the source of the sound. I am thinking of gilding the top of the pipes with copper leaf to make them look like organ pipes, turning the installation into a human organ, and a true musical instrument.

I aslo think the formation of the pipes, and the way they emerge from the ground resembles  standing stones in themselves. They will be imbedded in the earth, yet invisible, only slightly revealing the source of the sound, giving the public a sense of how the piece works. I like the idea that the sound will produce air and energy that will bounce into the room....creating its own resonance.