In a change to the usual broadcast…

I spent the day in Colchester visiting a friend’s exhibition “Number in Space and Time: Exploring Plato’s Fifth Element“.

Firstly, the “Fifth Element” covered by the exhibition isn’t “love” as the film of the same name would have you believe, but a more complicated geometric solid (the others being the cube, tetrahedron, and so on, each mapped to one of the four elements). Plato linked the fifth element to the divine.

This fascinating showing of ancient artifacts and modern artistic interpretations of the mathematics behind the “element” connects the most ancient civilizations in Europe and the Middle East to medieval England – indeed the whole mix of science and mystery was essential to Englishness until the First World War, when the backlash against the regime ancient saw the knowledge lost.

With incredible energy the exhibition’s hosts reconstruct and reconnect images, artifacts, structures, and even music, in a sort of ancient metaphysical “theory of everything”.

It might not be important to the modern mind, but it is crucial to understanding the thinking behind many of the actions of those who went before us – and especially the English, for whom from Anglo-Saxon times and before, were not just interested but were absolutely potty about this shape and everything that can be derived from it – baking it into buildings, art, and the very magic of king-making – indeed, the conversation of a mere mortal into a monarch is through a ceremony that is centred on this incredibly ancient understanding.

This is all brought to life through the energy, imagination, creativity, and damned-hard work of the exhibition’s creators: James Wenn and James Syrett – they love talking about this and will gladly explain everything.

It took me three hours from Southampton to get to Colchester (not including an unscheduled diversion), and the same amount of time to get home and I am bloody glad I made the effort!