点废成绿 Greening the Beige (GtB) is an eco-minded arts collective and not-for-profit community network dedicated to nurturing awareness of environmental issues. 点废成绿 GtB promotes and celebrates earth friendly artists and organizations in Beijing.
"Why are we being forced to choose between the economy and the environment? We tend to forget that without an environment we would not have an economy, as everything we consume and I mean everything comes from our environment."
~ Franke James (contemporary artist, photographer, writer)
Beijing's landfills are getting full fast! Reduce the "trash" you throw away by purchasing products with minimal packaging. Look for reusable, recyclable, and biodegrable items and remember to carry your reusable shopping bags!
Green Hugs and Hi Phives!
Here is the new art for Greening the Beige 5 !!!!!
A fresh World Tree for our fifth year.
This one was quite an undertaking:
Earth Tree
- The Earth Tree's texture is made of 2 Gingko Biloba leaves (China's national tree).
- The Earth Tree's green area is the shape of Eurasia (and islands), with Beijing at the VERY CENTER (the 'map' has been rotated - north is to the right, west is at the top).
- The Earth Tree's branches are formed by the large ocean ridges that skirt the west Pacific.
- The Earth Tree's Trunk is made of special angles. The central-most angle (yellow) is ~23.4 deg, equal to the Earth's axial tilt. The next wider angle (orange/amber) is 36 deg (with base angles of 72), making a golden triangle. The outer edge of the Trunk has a bit of red, marking an angle of 42.5 (the 'proper' golden angle is ~137.5, and 180 - 137.5 = 42.5)
- The outer perimeter of the 5 marks the diameter of the Moon
- The dark blue 'hollow' in the Trunk is the Moon-diameter X baby-phi
- A 56-point circle surrounds the Earth Tree, forming a calendar that equates the solar and lunar cycles. In such a system, the 'Moon-stone' moves 2 points counter-clockwise every day, and the 'Sun-stone' moves 2 points counter-clockwise every 13 days. The 'Node-axis' (here represented by the 2 clefts in the Gingko Biloba leaves) rotates 3 points clockwise every year. Our circle shows the start date (November 3rd) as the lightest blue point at the top-right, and the lightest yellow point at the bottom right. The 'time-wedge' culminates with the Lunar Eclipse of Dec 10th, demonstrated by the deep-blue point at the left-cleft and the deep-red point at the right-cleft. Earth is in the center, of course, pulling a nice assist with that Eclipse :) This leaves the extreme left and right points to mark the summer and winter solstices, and the extreme top and bottom points to mark the spring and autumn equinoxes. (A version of Stone Henge's Aubrey Circle - thanks to Mr. Robin Heath for the accurate data!)
Text and Adornment
- GtB - both the G and the larger bulb of the B are the diameter of the moon, and the width of the Chinese column of text is nearly so.
- The top of the Earth Tree to the bottom of the lower text block ('for everyone') makes a 1.382 : 1 ratio with the earth (1.382 is 3 - big phi OR 2 - baby phi). The same ratio is expressed from the bottom of the Earth Tree to the top of the floral decor (top edges of flowers at top left and right).
- The Lunar and Solar crown/laurels (the arc of 5 circles) are mostly Phi-formed. The largest is the diameter of the moon, and they shrink by baby phi as they get smaller (x 0.618). Within each circle are also 5 rings, also shrinking by baby phi in each step. Happy 5th birthday GtB!
- The lighter, paler circle which can be seen passing through the 'crowns' and GtB/点废成绿 has the diameter of the Earth + the Moon, and the circle has the same perimeter has a square drawn around the Earth (squaring the circle).
Furthermore, lots of LOVE went into making this.
Dig? Savvy!
Enjoy!
:)
Kyle Sobanja
http://www.coroflot.com/kylesobanja/portfolio
Calendar Data Courtesy of Robin Heath
http://skyandlandscape.com/
Please click here to read the GtB'5 theme statement.
