lix geometry

Joseph Edward Batter was an accomplished Design Draftsman. Throughout the 1960′s he produced the working technical drawings for office towers, physical plants, hardrock mines and such. The profession demands more than steady hands, sharp eyes and a disciplined mind. Drafting engineered designs of complex structures requires fixed attention to detail as well as the capacity to view and comprehend whole systems.

detail of "the Machine Array", geometric cross section of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh.

From the early Seventies until his death in 1994 Joe Batter was fascinated with the Geometry of Nature, in particular pi, the Golden Section and their application to ‘Earth Measure”. His intensive investigation led to an Array of profound discoveries within the Great Pyramid at Gizeh and the dimensions of the Solar System.

I first met Joe in 1979 around a coffee shop discussion about the Golden Section. At the time my interest was primarily in the artistic applications. By then he was adept with Numbers, solving eight decimal divisions longhand. After nearly a decade of research Joe was convinced there was a universal Unit latent in the Base 10 number system. Following several engaging discussions and the introduction of a scientific calculator a collaboration began.

We both worked in the field of Graphic Design as draftsman and illustrator. Our medium, pencil and pen and ink on paper. My role was to ground Joes’ “Earth Measure” in a natural setting.

"Six", Joes' Tokay Gecko, exploring the geometry

Within a few months we discovered the “lix” unit (1 lix = 1.001006 feet), within the mean distance of the Sun to the Earth and the A.U. formula: (1.6180339887 / 33) x 10¹³.

Geometric centres were plotted on illustration board and connected by the finest pencil lines. Joe inked the lines using a technical pen; each one applied with the exacting skill of a master draftsman. I produced the shading and graphics by hand with hundreds of thousands of flecks of ink using a similar pen, a .35mm rapidograph. Work on the first scale drawing, “TriTen Measure” was started in early 1980. Tens of thousands of hours were committed before completion of the fourth in the series, “The S.E.A. of the Machine Array”, in 1993.

TriTen Measure

The first of four scale drawings, presents a view of the Solar System based on the module Joseph Batter discovered within the Planetary mean distances and verified by the Kings and Queens Chamber dimensions within the Great Pyramid at Gizeh.

Exterior dimensions of all four drawings:
2.207 lix x 3.571 lix, (phi ¹⁶/10³) x (phi¹⁷/10³)