I love chess — especially chess stories.* In any case, there is something sublime about chess and all its possible moves — which outnumber the number of atoms in the observable universe (a.k.a the Shannon number). Out of a simple board of 64 squares, arises great complexity.
This mixed media artwork explores that element of game complexity in conjunction with the fractal nature of the temple architecture of South India, which some scholars say embody the Hindu notion of an “emanating universe”. That movement of emanation is reflected in the way Hindu temples seem to use some kind of algorithmic, fractalizing process where simple forms repetitively give birth to ever more simple forms, resulting in an incredible complexity of form.
Scholars note that “self-similarity or fractal geometry is another feature of Indian temples to represent an evolving cosmos,” where “fractal geometry is the technique of repeating similar shapes in varied scales but in same proportion.” As historian Mircea Eliade put it, temple architecture around the world generally reflects the imago mundi (image, model or microcosm of the world) of the culture that produces it, and so do the temples of India. As architectural scholar Adam Hardy explains, like the Hindu view of cosmology, the Indian temple is conceived of as an emergent, ever-evolving, “unfolding universe” that emanates from a central sanctum within:
[Movement] in the arts of India was seen to have been understood as a bearer of meaning and, more specifically, linked to the idea of divine and cosmic manifestation. In India, a perception of emerging and expanding creation does indeed seem to have been an intuition of the way things are that ran deeper than philosophical divisions. A pattern, seen in the architectural forms of temples, of emergence and growth originating at a point and unfolding through a series of stages, finds numerous parallels in visions of the evolution of the cosmos, or (more or less synonymous) that of a hierarchy of deities, taking place through sequential emanation… [provoking]… an underlying unity from which the multiplicity of creation emerges and returns (the same mystery imagined as ocean rather than seed).
The fractal proportionality of Indian temples is not only represented in the architectural details of this imaginary temple to the vast probabilities of chess, but also in the fractalized chess board, which is based on the T-square fractal (a boundary of infinite length bounding a finite area, drawn here with square branches related by 1/φ). Chaturanga, the Indian version of chess which predates the European one, features the gaja, an elephant-like piece which corresponds to the bishop in modern chess, which has been included here — but with wings.
There is indeed “thought behind form“, and architecture does indeed interact with consciousness. As the chess temple emerges, emanates and explodes apart to reveal its inner worlds, this artwork draws upon these tantalizing ideas about the nature of the cosmos, traditional design principles of vastu shastra (the Hindu science of architecture and design), the computational complexities of game theory and even how AI might someday forge new paths into unknown horizons of the game, as well as in even more complex games like Go.
* Lamentably, my chess skills and knowledge stop at castling and maybe a vague recollection of the Ruy Lopez and the Queen’s Gambit. In any case, my fascination with the background stories behind famous chess games is due largely in part to the excellent storytelling (and analysis) of Croatian chess YouTuber Antonio Radic, also known as Agadmator, who tells the (sometimes) harrowing tales of chess masters like Bobby Fischer, who almost single-handedly faces down the Soviet chess machine during the 1972 World Chess Championship. It all ends in a beautiful moment of chess sportsmanship when his opponent, Boris Spassky, gives a standing ovation to Fischer’s brilliant tenacity at the end of this sixth game of the tournament. Chess is one of those disciplines where a beautifully played game can transcend the illusory divisions of nationalism.
May 12, 2023 11:35 pm