Re(Calibrator) Phase1

This project is a venture into translation between the gesture-software-hardware, into the realm of the possibilities of hybrids, the collision of physical and digital tools and techniques.
It is also a quest of a unique framework, which will accommodate both digital creativity and traditional craftsmanship.
At the early stages of my research I started looking into art inspired by geometry and mysticism, and geometry inspired by imagination and the unknown. My fascination was about the dimensionality of our world and the efforts of scientists to discover other dimensions, a multi-dimensional unified theory of everything that is beyond the perception of our three dimensional world.

Some artists, portrayed reality in surprising and surreal ways, and perhaps one of the most recognisable person of these genre is M. C. Escher, who was not only a skillful master of presenting surreal worlds with much conviction, but also a proficient researcher of mathematics, geometry, tessellation and infinity.

Reptiles by Escher

What interests me the most in Escher's work, is this particular work on 2D reptiles, that step out of their flat world, gaining the Z depth and walking in a circle, marching through the three dimensional world, reaching the top and looking down into their flat existence, only to then return back to their flat homeland again. This translation between 2D and 3D really intrigues me and what happens in between, the transitional two reptiles are half 2D and half 3D, stuck in between two dimensions.
This is a world, an imaginary scenario, which arguably does not exist, this is an example of an illusion, a mystery, a parallel world. And why do we seek to be mystified? Albert Einstein thought that "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science" (preface, Mazes for the Mind) I tend to agree with this, the mysterious seems to draw us in a tempting, inspiring and sometimes overwhelming ways.
The source of the mystery varies.
Gaudi often found inspiration for his mysterious and bizarre architecture, in nature and animal world.

Casa Batllo by Gaudi

The balconies of Casa Batllo are derived from fish skull structure (page 56, Twenty buildings every architect should understand). The scale and the placing of this idea makes the building appear mysterious, as if we have stepped into some kind of a dream world of exaggeration and distortion, or an entirely different world.
In his "Diary of a Genius" (http://www.picassomio.com/diary-genius-book-0971457832.html) Salvador Dali mentions, that many of his painting are based on his dreams.

Corpus Hypercubus by Dali 

In Corpus Hypercubus (Crucifix) Dali depicts Jesus crucified on a four dimensional cube (tesseract). The hypercube, in this painting, is unfolded, in such a way, that we can see all 8 cubes simultaneously.

Hypercube unfolded

Did Dali dream of the extra dimension? His critics argue that his use of this mathematical symbol is a "visual opportunism" and that the artist knew nothing of the meanings and mathematical principles behind them (http://www.theartistsalvadordali.com/salvador-dali-painting-poster-print-corpus-hypercubus.htm). There is no evidence to support or disprove this, but one things is certain, Dali was mystified by the unfamiliar, odd geometry.
Mysterious geometry is an elegant representation of an impossible structure. 

The impossible cube structure

These objects are also called optical illusions and Escher used such structures in most of his graphic works.
Can there be extra dimensions? And if so, how does this relate to my search for the manual-digital hybrid? I would like to think that there is a way to practically implement the notions of mysterious extra dimensions and the idea of in between or "trapped" dimensions in this voyage.