The Strange Loop

In music, the strange loop, refers to the phenomenonin which a pattern set by a composeris then broken only to return wholeagain, as in Bach’s canons. As Hofstadterremarks, implicit to the concept of thestrange loop is the concept of infinity, since“what else is a loop but a way of representingan endless process in a finite way?” As seenin Escher’s ‘Metamorphosis’, infinity plays alarge role. Copies of one single theme oftenfit into each other, forming visual analoguesto the cannons of Bach. Through a process ofincremental mutation, various taxonomieswere developed. The following of a ‘pastespecial’ methodology lead to the breeding ofmultiple offshoots. The outcome became initself, an abstracted strange loop of tectonicpermutations.

Volume Editors
Robert Corser & Sharon Haar

ISBN
978-1-944214-02-9