Unsquare Dance
Imagination, creativity and hard work are the hallmarks of all true art forms. Take the name given to this piece, Unsquare Dance. It is borrowed from the title of a music track from the jazz musician Dave Brubeck. A true creative genius. Google it on UTube and allow it to create a mood in you while the story of the squares unfolds.
With a square defined as a rectangle with four equal sides, how many squares can you find in the two dimensional image posted above?
Well, one square is the entire picture you see and inside that square are sixteen smaller ones giving us a total so far of seventeen squares.
But lets get creative.
How many squares are there composed of four adjacent smaller ones. Each corner of the large square contains four small ones and together they create squares. Four in total. But with overlap there are nine squares in the diagram each composed of four smaller ones. Don't forget the four little ones that form the center of the sketch.
So our total now is seventeen and nine - twenty six.
Look again at the image. Are there other squares to be found?
Yes.
Each corner has a cluster composed of three small squares across and three down. In total there are four such squares each composed of nine small ones.
So our total is thirty. The total number of squares in the picture, with overlap of course, is thirty.
But not so fast!
When this exercise in perception and reality was presented to one specific audience, they saw a total of fifty five squares.
Without adding lines and remembering that the image is only two dimensional, where did they find the remaining squares that nearly doubled the total count?
Our perception becomes our reality and we respond that those elements in our lives that to us at least are real.
And so it is with Michael Campbell, the main protagonist in the novel Capistrano. He sees himself as being destined to do more than just participate in corporate life. He has a dream and he follows that dream with all of his heart and soul. Take the journey of discovery with Michael. You will the enjoy his quest for self discovery.
Oh yes, the focus by some on the fifty five squares will conclude after you have a chance to think, and think creatively, about it.
