FINDING RHYTHM IN CHAOS
NEHA SASI
Preface
This book has been developed as a part of PGDP programme at Srishti Institute of Arts, Design and Technology. I would like to thank the faculty, Mrs. Sudebi Thakurata and Mr. Mahesh Bhat for the constant guidance throughout. Also a big thanks to everyone who have helped me to make this book.
Index Introduction 1 Symmetries Bilateral Symmetry 5 Reflective Symmetry 7 Radial Symmetry 8 Spherical Symmetry Patterns Cracks 11 Spirals 12 Stripes 14 Chaos 17 Tessellation 18 Fractals 19 Patterns in Yelahanka Map 20 The map 21 Conclusion 22
Introduction Symmetries and patterns are symbols of harmonious and beautiful balances in the nature. The existence of symmetry adds beauty to the object containing it. Symmetries are of various types. In this book, I would be mentioning a few of them with respect to nature, art and architecture. Whereas, the patterns which I would focus upon are mainly spirals, chaos, cracks and stripes. The story of this book revolves around patterns, symmetries and rythms I found through my journey in the old town of Yelahanka, which has a rich heritage and a history of more than 500 years. It is one of the oldest townships in Karnataka and the birthplace of Kempa Gowda I who is known as the founder of Bangalore. It was a part of the Vijayanagara Empire. Yelahanka had been once the capital of the empire but was later shifted to new Bangalore. Hence, it is believed that the origin of Bengaluru city is closely linked to Yelahanka. After the conversations, I had with the people of the old town I understood that today it is one of the fast-expanding localities of Bangalore largely due to its proximity to the Bengaluru International Airport. On the first day of my college when I had to go for a photoshoot in Yelahanka, little did I know that I would be writing this book after 3 weeks from then. An example of the aesthetic sense of the people; with a neatly placed plant on the wall (and the peeping kid)
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The place like any other town had lots of activities happening. But there were few processes which I had not come across before, may be because I had not paid attention to detail before. I managed to capture many of those through my lens. After getting the feedback of the photos taken, I decided to take different approach regarding taking photos which mainly consisted of the photo taking techniques and principles based on the feedback. After repeated visits to Yelahanka town I had a good number of photos with me. Surprisingly, most of them looked pretty aesthetic to me as I could see colour contrasts, different angles, better backgrounds and close-up images in focus. I repeatedly went through the pictures trying to find a unique story behind them. As I was trying to connect the dots between the stories arising out of individual photos I realised almost every photo had an aesthetic quotient to it. After spending some time on analysing photos and introspecting for some time, I came up with a line of inquiry through which I could view Yelahanka in a different way. I wanted to find the aesthetics of Yelahanka with respect to colours, patterns and structures by exploring the patterns in Yelahanka. Bright doors and windows are a trend in the old town which attracts us with its colour contrast.
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But, I wanted to know more. Hence, I again headed out to the old town trying to find more interesting patterns in Yelahanka. I could capture what my search was for, in a deeper way, as this time I knew what I was looking for in the streets. I came back and sat down with all the pictures in front of me. That was the moment when I saw the various symmetries in my photos. I am very happy to have had that realisation which later gave the shape and structure to my line of inquiry. Thus, this book is going to tell you the story of different patterns and symmetries in Yelahanka with respect to nature, art and architecture.
People of Yelahanka. She did not say a word to me. But quitely kept staring to the camera while I took her photo. I was left wondering whether I should have captured her.
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SYMMETRIES
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Bilateral Symmetry Symmetry as wide or as narrow as you may define its meaning, is one idea by which man through the ages has tried to comprehend and create order, beauty and perfection. - Hermann Weyl Yelahanka has a very rich cultural heritage. It has been developed over the years and passed on from one generation to another. It includes customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. As a result, there are lots of cultural beliefs that the people in this town follow. “The main purpose is to ward off the evil” said Sarla when I asked her about the Drishti Gombe. “To defend themselves from the evil and to keep the evil eye away” added the customer buying vegetables at Sarla’s grocery shop in Yelahanka old town. Drishti Gombe is the kannada term for ‘evil defender’. Many homes in the old town could be seen having it hung to their walls. There were a few houses which had more than three of them. Thus, the market has a good collection of Drishti Gombes, its main features being big eyes, horns and red paint. It has a bilateral symmetry as it depicts a face very similar the humans, excluding the horns probably.
The Drishti Gombes are available in various sizes and designs in the old town market. The stores which sells such articrafts are very colourful and appealing.
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The narrow and colorful lanes of Yelahanka. The place has many similar lanes with colorful homes in between, adding to the aesthetic value of the old town.
The railway track near the Yelahanka railway station is a peaceful place wiith very less people around. It doesn’t fail to be included under the list of bilateral symmetries due to the arrangement of its rails.
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Reflective Symmetry The old town has shops which specialize in vintage windows and doors. The designs and patterns which I found in the windows reminded me of my grandmother’s home in Kerala. The materail used is wood. Also, the collection in the shop I visited consisted mainly of old and used windows and doors. It made the shop look more like a godown. Most of the doors were painted with bright colours. Paint and brushes were all over the place. Many kinds of symmetries could be found in the patterns visible in that area. Reflective symmetry being one among them.
An old window kept for display in the shop. It looked as if it was going to be painted soon, with colorful paint cans and brushes around it.
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Radial Symmetry Radial or Rotational Symmetry is mostly found in the nature. I could see many examples of it in the old town. Yelahanka is known for its vegetation due to which the weather is slightly cooler in this area compared to many other areas in Karnataka.
Flowers in full bloom representing radial or rotational symmetry
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Spherical Symmetry Spheres are all around Yelahanka. From spherical mud pots to round bondas (a dish mainly consumed as a snack) being fried in hot oil, a very wide range of spheres could be seen in the old town. When I started observing things more closely I could see small perfect spheres on the trees, which is identified as ‘ghasghas’ by the locals. I did taste it. It had a beautiful blend of sourness and sweetness.
Bright colours are a part of Yelahanka old town. Be it on the walls or on the piggy banks. I could see a variey of colurful piggy banks in the market area. Paddu, a local dish of Yelahanka is a delicacy which is very often found in the streets of old town. It is made of rice flour and vegetables. It is another example of sphere which I found on the streets, an edible one though. The ladoos (sweets), pani puri (indian snacks) and berries could be added to the list of spheres in the old town.
The paddus being made in customised pans. The dish is usually golden brown in colour and tastes delicious with a chutney.
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PATTERNS
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Cracks I was not much aware of the story behind this tree with threads tied upon it until Sarla explained it to me. “Every year on the festival of Naagar Panchami the believers whose prayers had been heard and fulfilled tie a knot to this tree. They worship Naga Deva (god of snakes).” “The festival isn’t once in a year but once in 3 to 4 months” clarified Rangaraja, who have been living in Yelahanka for the past 60 years. He was very excited to talk about Yelahanka and I was happy to have an informative conversation with him.
The tree with cracks. Moreover, this tree is a religious symbol for the people of Yelahanka.
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Spirals “The green bangles are for married woman and the red ones are used for devastha (temple) purposes� said the woman selling the bangles when I asked her about the significance of its colours. There are a plenty of glass bangle vendors in the lanes of the old town.
The spirals in the form of glass bangles. A love of the Yelahanka women.
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The white silk threads have been rolled up into spirals. This is later to be used to weave silk clothes. This particular handloom was largely into weaving the white cloth. The cloth was later sent to another area for application of dye.
The silk handlooms and textiles have been an integral part of Yelahanka for the past 2 centuries or even more. While walking in the streets of Kammashiamma layout I could hear the loud sounds of the equipments used in the handlooms. According to the localites there are around two hundred to three hundred handlooms in that area.
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Stripes The processed turmeric roots displayed by the vendors in their street carts in the old town reminded me of the pattern : stripes. “It is very good to remove pimples and enhance the skin tone’� said Ratnamma extending the powdered form of turmeric to me. The box had a label which said kasturi manjal. The cart included many more cosmetic items varying from Kajal to Henna. Ratnamma excitedly showed me some more cosmetics when I had asked her for more information ragarding what all did she have with her.
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Nature often surprises us with its beautiful symmetries and organised patterns. In Yelahanka I saw a few examples as well. I saw the root of a tree which consisted of stripes, almost identical to each other. There were easily an hundred of them in one single tree. It is a beautiful feeling when we try to introspect and understand what the nature wants to tell us with its beautiful shapes and patterns.
An example of stripes found in the nature. A honey bee nest near the streets of Yelahanka. The different colour shades constituting the stripes adds more beauty to the entire structure.
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Stripes usually look good when arranged aesthetically. But when they are made up of colourful silk threads they are definitely a visual treat. Out of the many handlooms in the Kondappa layout, I visited the one where the workers were weaving silk sarees from dyed silk threads. The colours were very bright and captivating. The area comprises of hundreds of handlooms. Weaving silk sarees is the main function of these handlooms. Agrahara layout, Kogilu, Maruti nagar and Choudeshwari layout are few more areas where silk sarees are weaved.
A glance of the silk weaving handloom in the old town. There were many workers in the work area. The sound of the machinery was pretty loud even though there was music playing in the background. The fabric looked very vibrant and fresh.
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Chaos Being an old town, Yelahanka has almost all forms of chaos present in its streets. I believe chaos could look better if we look at it in a differnt way, may be in a different angle. Chaos can be euphemistically termed as irregularities in a pattern. As per the book “Patterns – The Art, Soul, and Science of Beholding Nature” chaos theory is really about finding the underlying patterns in apparently random data. Also it emphasises that science defines “chaos” as a form of order that lacks predictability and hence, it is unfortunate that science has chosen the word “chaos” to describe this form of order because the word “chaos” suggests complete disorder. The lamps stored in huge containers without a specific pattern represents a form of chaos, though in a beautiful way.
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Tessellation A tessellation is typically the tiling of a plane using one or more geometric shapes, with no overlaps and no gaps. A tessellation belongs to the category of art under the main heading of patterns. Tessellations are usually found in the nature in fruits, flowers, trees, animals etc. There are various kinds of man made tessellations as well. It is largely used as a form of artwork. It could be widely seen in the artworks of temples and mosques.
This leaf is an example of natural tessellation. The arrangement of the shapes and the colour variations in the leaf makes it more aesthetic.
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Fractals Fractals are geometrical figures, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. Repetitions need not be identical though. We see plenty of these in the nature eaveryday. The temples in Yelahanka are an example of such patterns. Yelahanka is known for its temples. “There are 28 temples in Yelahanka old town� said Rangaraja which truly surprised me. He gave me a long list of the temples. Narasimha Swami temple Gangamma temple and Yelamma temple are few among the list. He also added that most of these temples are in existance from the past 300 years.
Plegamma Devasthana, a temple in old town had been in existence for the past couple of centuries. It had been renovated 3 years ago as till then it was a very small temple.
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Yelahanka satellite town: Patterns in map The map of the Yelahanka satellite town or new town is in the shape of a semi circle. I believe the planning of the town would have been very organised and well structured for its execution to be this neat. Accessibility and transportation becomes convenient in a place which has a good design for its infrastrcture. This is an example of a pattern which is found in the geographical map of Yelahanka.
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The Map
The map depicts the ideation of the process which I had followed during the making of the story. It is an organised way of representing and classifying my data. It shows that the patterns are classified based on three aspects which are nature, art and architecture.
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Conclusion My initial journey through the streets of Yehahanka with the eye of a beginner “Creativeness is finding patterns where helped me to explore more about the town. My love for aesthetics made me to none exist� - Thomas M Disch look for patterns and designs. I was surprised by my findings as I could gather more and more data related to what I was looking for at every visit to the town. I started looking for examples, for few patterns and symmetries but ended up collecting samples for various patterns about which I did not know much earlier. It helped me in learning and hence improved my knowledge regarding patterns with respect to nature, art and architecture. Even though the story had largely focused on the patterns I believe I got a wholistic learning experience due to the repeated conversations with the localites of Yelahanka. Their culture and belief system had a connection with many of my photos. In the process of exploring new symmetries I had gained more information regarding the people and their surroundings in the old town. By taking the photos from differnt angles and analysing those, I could find beauty between the emerging patterns. The map further helped me to ideate the different kinds of patterns effectively. I truly believe that the patterns and symmetries helped me find the rhythm in chaos.
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