Strangewell / 2026 / 1/1
Aham
Brahmasmi.
At what point does the world
stop being outside you?
Preparing the artwork.
01 / The question
The place of
the observer.
To see a well, you stand above it. To see a tower, you stand below it. What if the structure refuses to settle which of these you are?
Aham brahmāsmi — “I am Brahman” — is a statement of identity in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. In Advaita, the self and ultimate reality are not separate. Here, that question enters through perception: the view changes; the centre holds.
02 / Construction
Relationships
before surfaces.
The engine separates the construction from its material and its viewpoint. A change of light leaves the geometry intact. A new view reveals the same place.
Where the lines meet.
The Sri Yantra is solved through shared intersections, using an incidence construction described by Gérard Huet. Four upward and five downward triangles form forty-three selected triangular regions.
The core keeps its bilateral symmetry. The enclosing gates, architecture and landscape repeat by quarter turns. Those are separate rules, held around one centre.
solve the shared intersections
partition the triangle arrangement
retain the 43 triangular regions
build the surrounding precinct
A rule for descent.
Each level contracts by the same ratio. The temple’s columns, niches and cornices return inside the well. Height and depth share a vocabulary.
{
"levels": 5,
"contractionRatio": 0.837,
"levelDrop": 28,
"stairTreads": 10
}const outer=outerHalfWidth*Math.pow(contractionRatio,level);03 / In the making
One construction.
Several ways in.
From recipe to view.
TypeScript constructs the scene. The still and moving view use the same geometry and shared GLSL projection. The browser’s p5.js runtime draws the work; pointer movement changes the angle around the fixed bindu.
Geometry is compressed for delivery. The still appears first while the moving view loads. Light, grain and colour give the measured surfaces their material presence.
Construction: aham-still-9
Geometry: huet-incidence-closure-1
The first edition / 2026
Aham Brahmasmi.
One digital edition, held on Tezos.
Collecting supports Strangewell and the work still to come.