“Does Symmetry Kill?”
Last week I posed the symmetry question after wrestling with Marina Mander’s thought-provoking opinion piece in Sunday NY Times. One paragraph echoed in my ear: Symmetry kills.
Initially mind blanked out; symmetry appeared a foreign word. Does that ever happen to you?
Then my brain kicked in: years ago my beautician invited me to experiment with a new style – she called it asymmetrical. This meant that for a few months, my hair was only on one side of my head.
So symmetry must mean matching sides!
For some reason, my continuing fascination with wabi sabi, never forgotten for very long, bubbled up.
Wabi sabi celebrates imperfection; symmetry requires objects or designs to be perfectly matched.
The imperfection of wabi sabi, its rustic and irregular beauty, would be killed by symmetry!
My perfectionistic tendencies are not only annoying, they can be dangerous.
To discover the nugget of truth in words that continue to mysteriously resonate requires detective work. Perhaps you will find a different lesson for yourself in the phrase Symmetry kills or perhaps my experience will encourage you to investigate words that won’t leave you alone.
Special Note: After reading Post #90, you may have deduced my grandmother and Marina Mander suffered from Bell’s palsy. You are correct.
Thanks for exploring the mystery with me – Nicky Mendenhall
1 comment
Nicky-I am guilty for not always keeping up with your posts. I did find your pieces about symmetry and perfectionism most interesting. I
think as artists we are always looking for balance and completeness.
This may be a form of symmetry, but does not necessarily mean the same thing is shown in equal proportions on both sides of an image. I am always thinking about the rule of thirds and this saying, "a little less than enough is enough."
This also seems to apply to perfectionism since it implies that we can create or accomplish something all by ourselves. My musical accompanist and I agree that we do not want to play without each other, since if we make a mistake it is easy to hear, together is it very hard to detect. Perfectionism also implies we are afraid to fail and thus we may not try new ventures.
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