Heller M, Woodin W.H. (eds.) Infinity. New research frontiers (CUP, 2011)(ISBN 1107003873)(O)(327s)_MAml_

the art of immensity 207person. A human act of free donation or forgiveness stands in front of the infinity ofthe universe. Blaise Pascal has acutely expressed the presence of dimensions in humannature (mind, charity) that are not reducible to any physical reality: “All bodies, thefirmament, the stars, the earth and its kingdoms, are not equal to the lowest mind; formind knows all these and itself; and these bodies nothing. All bodies together, andall minds together, and all their products, are not equal to the least feeling of charity.This is of an order infinitely more exalted. From all bodies together, we cannot obtainone little thought; this is impossible and of another order. From all bodies and minds,we cannot produce a feeling of true charity; this is impossible and of another andsupernatural order” (Pascal 1660).Now we ask, what is the most adequate language to speak of the kind of infinitythat we have named “metaphysical”? In the first part of this chapter, we have usedthe language of physics: we spoke of density, curvature, triangles, and so forth, todiscuss the infinity of physical space. That was a powerful language in that context.However, when dealing with infinity as a component of human experience, mathematicsand physics are not of great help. Poetry and art seem to provide a more adequatelanguage. The aesthetic perception of infinity has inspired a great amount of literatureand artworks. The beauty of many natural phenomena and the vastness of the cosmicscenery are evocative of a metaphysical infinity, so that artists often take inspirationfrom them. What are the features adopted in artistic expressions that have proved mosteffective in conveying a sense of infinity?9.7 The Art of ImmensityThe most elementary representation of infinity is probably in the idea of repetition. Evenin prehistorical rock carving and paintings we find remarkable examples of repeatedsymbols and patterns, sometimes representing stars or lunar phases. 23 This testifies tothe early emergence of the idea of “something” that may be reproduced indefinitely,perhaps foreshadowing the concept of number. Architectural designs worldwide haveplayed with the idea of repetition as an invitation to infinity, as it can be admiredin buildings as diverse as the Parthenon in Athens or the Registan in Samarkand, asMichelangelo’s dome of St. Peter in Rome or the Shinto Shrine in Miyajima Islandin Japan. The geometric sophistication of Islamic art has probably reached the heightof richness of self-reproducing patterns. Western modern art has also exploited thesame idea. Several paintings by Escher, such as Depth, for example, (Escher 1955),or some of the works by Andy Warhol, representing interminable ranks of Coca Colabottles (Warhol 1962a) or of Marilyn Monroe’s lips (Warhol 1962b), seem to proposean unscrupulous technique to evoke a moment of infinity. However, although limitlessreproduction of a pattern does introduce some idea of infinity, its communicationpotential is rather limited. From an aesthetics standpoint, the infinite homogeneousuniverse, reproducing countless copies of anything you like or dislike, may suffer fromthe same weakness.23 Some of the most striking examples are the drawings discovered in 1940 in the caves of Lascaux, France,painted around 18,000 BC by the Cro-Magnon man. See also Barrow (1995).