http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/03/lunar_refractio.html#comment-63688172

Non-overlapping magisteria, eh? This was Stephen Jay Gould's lukewarm suggestion for how religion and science could co-exist. Not sure I believe it in his case, but regarding the eternal dichotomy of time vs space, I don't believe it at all. As the line moves through a new dimension it defines the plane... If it refuses to move, it doesn't negate the reality of the new dimension...

Yes, poetry is sequential, as is all language, spoken or written, and painting is planar and spatial, as is all depiction in the higher dimensions. That a picture is worth 10K words is an interesting observation of the attempt of the one dimension to become the next. (Fractal space is the result of course)

What, at the root of it really, is 'thought', or more generally, consciousness? Is it sequential, a stream of thoughts with constant reference to memory creating an illusion of continuity through time? or Spatial? More likely transcendental, when we let go the reins and the sequence, and allow awareness of the vast interconnectedness of events and things and discrete actors and cosmic trends to flood the mind in an instant.... Yet, remaining is the sequential narration of the observer. Clearly the dichotomy is a convenient illusion. Nature knows no such hard and fast boundaries, she prefers the subtle gradation of fields to the illusion of separateness.

Strangely, the very questions regarding painting and poetry can be asked about typography VS graphic design. Typography is fundamentally linear (and in essence quite nearly monochrome), as it is fundamentally a representation of sequential language. I would argue that this is also, in the classical sense, Apollonian and of the nature of reason. Graphic design is fundamentally planar and spatial, simultaneous rather than sequential. Indeed, the rise of dramatic color and imagery appeals to the primary visual cortex and thence directly to the 'gut' reaction. I argued ( AIGA Journal 1996) [1] that the great appeal of grunge typography to advertisers is that it triggered the subconscious fear of being run over by a truck, thus assuring rapt attention and thus subliminal messaging becomes more effective.

There are many facets to this idea, but of course, I'm much more the useless philosopher, producing neither painting nor poetry ;-)

Thanks for the very interesting reading on this crisp March morn I hope your Equinox is lovely, and the same for the rest of the seasons! ciao! p

[1] http://www.fraterdeus.com/typeontheedge/ Some comments from students here http://www.advancedtypography.blogspot.com/ (thanks to Google!)