Research as Order

Research as Order. It began during the May 2012 Integrative Seminar at St.Stephen’s College (UofA) when my love affair with the Chambered Nautilus surfaced again, as I reflected on the nature of research inquiry. The beautiful shell and I were introduced in 1964, at art college. The Chambered Nautilus is a cephalopod member of the mollusk family (phylum). I have drawn the mathematical perfection and order of this beautiful shell many times, in the form of a (Greek) Golden Section Rectangle which contains the logarithmic spiral, found in natural form in such species as the Chambered Nautilus, broccoli, ferns, snails, galaxy spirals, spirogyra organisms, sunflowers, and others. Tradition followed the linear line of logic. Then came the circle, or hermeneutic circle. But I am considering the logarithmic spiral as a “research methodology of order,” and as divinely proportioned to include an exponential factor in an ever increasing process of data gathering and human experience. This may not sound like narrative, but I assure you the Chambered Nautilus has been part of the story for over forty-five years.

“Two Spirals,” by Gerrit Verstraete, 2008, Cat.No.1093. Silverpoint and graphite. Drawing based on freestyle interpretation of a logarithmic spiral. (14 X 20 in. / 36 X 51 cm)