March 17 2006

Text By Greg Fallis

There are no straight lines in nature. The straight line is a tool devised by humans and imposed on nature for our convenience. Because of that, many people find it abhorent, an abomination of aesthetics. Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the Austrian painter and sculptor, claimed the straight line was the devil's tool and would lead to the downfall of humankind.

Voltaire claimed that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. The straight line did not exist; it was necessary for us to invent it...and we can take joy in the invention. For those who look, there is beauty to be found in linearity, an elegance in its simplicity. We need the straight line for balance. The gentle loveliness of the curve can't be fully appreciated without awareness of the strict undeviating line.