Lot 182: Spiral Without Border

Peter Lowe (b. 1938)
Spiral Without Border
signed, inscribed and dated 'Peter Lowe/Spiral without border/1990-95' (on the reverse) and with studio stamp (on the reverse)
engraved perspex
13 x 13 in. (33 x 33 cm.)
From an edition of 5.

In 1963, Lowe discovered a mathematical spiral based upon square and triangular numbers (see Exhibition catalogue, A Rational Aesthetic , London, January - March 2008, p. 29, pl. 8). This first version consists of a chrystalline spiral of consecutive integers: i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8. The total adds up to 36 which is a square number and also a triangular number. The centre of the spiral is a square. The units in the spiral increase in size by one unit until they fill a 6 x 6 unit square.
The present work displays Lowe's further investigation into his spiral invention. The work is now in red and represents the next largest possible square triangular number filling a square of 35 x 35 units and creates the second largest possible spiral after his 1963 version.