Not Meant for Present Times!

I’ve been exploring combining calendrical dates with magic squares for more than 25 years. I’m identified as a person with some Asperger’s traits. Functional MRI have shown that my brain is wired slightly differently; it seems to have unusual activity that results in some innate math, memory, and drawing skills. I’ve calculated dates and specific number systems since I was a child. I’d see common numbers around me (a license plate, a house number) and immediately transform them into dates.

Magic squares, in the traditional mathematical sense, are grids of integers whereby all rows and columns add up to an identical sum. I extrapolated this concept and created the world’s first “magic time square,” where dates are fitted in alignment with the magic square integers—making the dates add up to an identical sum instead. The next challenge was to create dates that not only resulted in an identical overall sum, but that reflected a common theme. For example, I might fit natural disasters to the above magic square and find hurricanes that not only fit the integers but also occurred on Fridays. This idea has appeared in my past work in various ways: I created stacks, sequences, and progressions of dates using similarities and differences.

The resulting “Magic Circles” series reflects my interest in the future development of artificial intelligence (AI). In a non-dystopian future, I believe people and machines will have prodigious memory and calculation capabilities—via biological or technical improvements. Machines will become a new species with higher creative intelligence and humans will be enhanced with skills that seem implausible today. I envision these magic circles as a form of recreation, because they allow the user to “program” them; to choose a specific theme and then fit the provided days of the week with appropriate dates. Not so easy for us, but real entertainment if you have unlimited memory and knowledge of all past historical events.

When artificial intelligence occurs, these “crossdate” or “crosstime” puzzles will become feasible games and then hopefully they’ll be awakened.