755
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_84
Chapter 84
Systems Paradox
84.1 Dimensionality and Relevant Specificities (Fig. 84.1)
As in mathematics, concepts are in infinite dimensions, the space/time continua
associated with them are not subject to measurable phenomena. This is the case
in all fantastic encounters with the Other. We recall an experience of meeting a
manta ray and exchanging courtesies in the Maldivers. Or delighting in the combinatory insights of all those beings drawn by Jacob Hoefnagel (1575–1630) in his
Archetypa Studiaque Patris Georgii Hoefnagelii, in 1592 may be surmised—the
dreams of the elephant beetle (Coleoptera Dynastinae), the fantasies of the homeseeking snail (Gastropoda Helicidae) or ephemeral passions of Pseudo-Aiusomius’
flower, De rosis nascentibus, “ipsa dies aperit: conficit ipsa dies” (“One day brings
forth [a flower], and the same day ends it”
1
. In her fine study of the Hoefnagel
father and son (Joris and Jacob), Marisa Anne Bass examined the elder’s decadeslong endeavor to complete his Four Elements—the Terra, Aier, Acqua, and Ignis
folios; his cartographic efforts for his friend Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum orbis terrarum (1570); various illuminations for the Hours of Philip of Cleves, his Patientia,
Missale Romanum, Mira calligraphiae monumenta, and numerous allegories and
other works commissioned by the likes of Emperor Rudolf II. Much of these artistic masterpieces were composed in exile, following the 1576 brutal attack by the
Spanish on Joris’ home which was Antwerp. Later on, the Calvinist who actually
saw God in every minute insect would find himself embroiled in additional turmoil
in Catholic-dominated Munich, spending his last years in Vienna. Bass’ elegant and
straight-forward thesis: In the space of exile, humbly seeking out one solace after
another in the natural world, Hoefnagel found the strength and inspiration to help
him survive
2
. This is that aforementioned wherewithal, the human devices that give
1 See Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel – Art and Science around 1600, by Thea Vignau-Wilberg, Hatje
Cantz Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 2017, p.451.
2 See Insect Artifice – Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt, by Maris Anne Bass, Princeton University
Press, Princeton NJ and Oxford UK, 2019.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_84
Chapter 84
Systems Paradox
84.1 Dimensionality and Relevant Specificities (Fig. 84.1)
As in mathematics, concepts are in infinite dimensions, the space/time continua
associated with them are not subject to measurable phenomena. This is the case
in all fantastic encounters with the Other. We recall an experience of meeting a
manta ray and exchanging courtesies in the Maldivers. Or delighting in the combinatory insights of all those beings drawn by Jacob Hoefnagel (1575–1630) in his
Archetypa Studiaque Patris Georgii Hoefnagelii, in 1592 may be surmised—the
dreams of the elephant beetle (Coleoptera Dynastinae), the fantasies of the homeseeking snail (Gastropoda Helicidae) or ephemeral passions of Pseudo-Aiusomius’
flower, De rosis nascentibus, “ipsa dies aperit: conficit ipsa dies” (“One day brings
forth [a flower], and the same day ends it”
1
. In her fine study of the Hoefnagel
father and son (Joris and Jacob), Marisa Anne Bass examined the elder’s decadeslong endeavor to complete his Four Elements—the Terra, Aier, Acqua, and Ignis
folios; his cartographic efforts for his friend Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum orbis terrarum (1570); various illuminations for the Hours of Philip of Cleves, his Patientia,
Missale Romanum, Mira calligraphiae monumenta, and numerous allegories and
other works commissioned by the likes of Emperor Rudolf II. Much of these artistic masterpieces were composed in exile, following the 1576 brutal attack by the
Spanish on Joris’ home which was Antwerp. Later on, the Calvinist who actually
saw God in every minute insect would find himself embroiled in additional turmoil
in Catholic-dominated Munich, spending his last years in Vienna. Bass’ elegant and
straight-forward thesis: In the space of exile, humbly seeking out one solace after
another in the natural world, Hoefnagel found the strength and inspiration to help
him survive
2
. This is that aforementioned wherewithal, the human devices that give
1 See Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel – Art and Science around 1600, by Thea Vignau-Wilberg, Hatje
Cantz Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 2017, p.451.
2 See Insect Artifice – Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt, by Maris Anne Bass, Princeton University
Press, Princeton NJ and Oxford UK, 2019.