Samuel Verbiese
"Genesis of the hexagonal micro-Chartres sculpture" and "Six planar 'trompe 'l'oeil' hexagonal microChartres works
Color display under plastic with pictures of drawings, models and affiches,
90cm X 45cm (horizontal, in two pieces), Setup of idea 2004-2005, realizations
still under way.
#1-2:
First part : with a high geometrical/topological content, from the idea of bridges and tunnels displayed in a water garden (a,b); from a the first known drawing of the Chartres labyrinth by Heidric of Auxerre and its 'gates' which opens even to knots (c,d,e); from the "wall vs. path", i.e. "maze vs. labyrinth" distinction within the labyrinth (f); from the closeness of opposed turnabouts bringing to life above bridges and tunnels as seen in the shaded drawing of the octagonal version of the Amiens cathedral (g); from the idea of the wheel of 6 colours, not working with the mini-Chartres octogon (h), this leading to the micro-Chartres and its hexagonal form (i-m), from the materialization of the central cube in hexagonal projection, and finally from the rounding of the path into the shape of a human figure running towards the viewer with raised arms holding the cube (o) which can become the weight of human sorrows or more positively the contribution of each of us in the form : "à chacun sa pierre à l'édifice", perhaps building another symbolic cathedral... The model of a sculpture project (G, o, p) with the hexagon standing on a pedestal and the figure descending on the lawn to welcome the viewer, shows in addition a 3-D Moebius circuit including the cube, as maze wanderings are forbidden for 'heavy traffic' by three 'poles', coloured in the primary colours as a metaphor of the wheel of colours. The hexagonal labyrinth can further be projected onto three faces of a cube (q) and so becomes a candidate for an even more complex journey painted on three faces of the inserted cube.
Other part shows six versions in planar 'trompe-l'oeil' works/affiches.
"St. Omerization of the Chartres labyrinth and development of the St. Omerized
'mini'- and 'micro-Chartres' "
Color display under plastic of drawings "hand" generated on the computer,
72cm X 40cm, 2005.
Demonstration of the fact that the labyrinth in the cathedral of St. Omer in
the North of France is a mere added "vibration" to the path of the
Chartres labyrinth. With this scheme in mind, development of the mini- and micro-Chartres
"à la St. Omer". Thanks are extended to Belgian artist Paul
Gonze, who triggered for me a real curiosity in this labyrinth I did notice
before but forgot about.
"Plan of the labyrinth project for the Solvay Domain in La Hulpe, Belgium"
Oil painting on canvas, 99cm X 79.5cm, 2005, first try mowed on lawn, May 2997,
full realization with upper deck to be decided.
This is a micro-Chartres in a square 17x17m, where both the "wall"
and the "Adriane thread" are paths, on two levels, the upper deck
being built in wood as the 22 stairs. The whole thing is intended as a fitness
loop situated on a square lawn of 50x50m that can be seen from above on another
superior lawn through a hole in the border bushes, in the middle of a beautiful
park. More pictures and models are presented in the paper "Amazing Labyrinths".
"Labyrinth '50' with Golden Pyramid for the 50th anniversary of Alain"
Colour affiche under plastic of a magnified computer reworking of a scanned
sketch in pencil originally drawn on an envelope back, 4.41cm X 26cm, 2007
Affiche of a custom work for a friend's 50th anniversary. A labyrinth of the
classic type with a five-branch star in its "seed" instead of the
common + ("plus sign" cross). No circles between the star and the
dots, so I call it "classic 50" (the real 7-circuit classic would
be 41, the 3 circuit classic would be 40, and the spiral a 1 followed by N zeros,
N being the m digits number of circuits). The 5 branched star seed is replaced
here by a pentagram surrounded by ts pentagon, as the projection of a Golden
pyramid, with golden rectangular base with ts two diagonals seen from below,
two equilateral triangles and two golden triangles. The text is a play on words
in French using my friend's first name, Alain.
Samuel Verbiese
Doctor in mechanical engineering/structures, now plastician artist
"Besides expressionistic painting and sculpting of the figure and portrait I am interested in geometric projects. Here I present my labyrinths, variations of the Chartres labyrinth as based on the 5000 years old "Classic" labyrinth. These works, often containing several interpretations, are generally mowed in public domains and parks, as forms of ludical land art for the enjoyment of children and adults alike and lend themselves to dramatic and meaningful 3-D monumental sculptures. Great care is devoted indeed to the strict adherence to the topologic features of the famous historic designs mentioned, as documented in my paper "Amazing Labyrinths". The technique used in the affiches is a graphical interpretation of photographic records of original sketches or lithographs using computer watercolouring and edition. They are also printed in small format for use as handout leaflets. Other works are acrylics on paper, oil on canvas, lithographs and 3-D models."