Sense títol, 1972

In this work Mario Merz focuses on the relations and geometrical proportions of natural elements. The drawing made by the string on the glass, held in place by small pieces of lead, contains the seeds of the artist’s later works on the Fibonacci sequence and the spiral. Fibonacci’s numerical series, created by using the sum of two consecutive numbers to produce the next number (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55...), finds its material expression in the form of the spiral, which simultaneously suggests both spatial and temporal expansion. The form of this numerical progression often appears in natural organisms, such as the scales of a pine cone, the shape of hurricanes or certain galaxies. Applied to architecture, it corresponds to the famous golden section, much valued since the Renaissance.