A couple Thursdays ago, I saw the documentary Between the Folds at an art gallery in Dumbo. It’s about people who make origami, arguably the world’s mathiest craft, so I was expecting it to be interesting, but probably super dry – like a convention of Sol LeWitt fans. I was wrong.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE4lqYzS2m0]
What I loved most about the film was watching the artists talk about their work – like the sense of play that comes through loud and clear just from watching Paul Jackson’s hands move:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gynsE184d0]
And the fun continues – MIT origami theorist Erik Demaine, his scientist-and-artist dad-and-collaborator Martin Demaine, geometric sculptor George Hart, and math-y visual artist Susan Happersett will be speaking at Central Booking in NYC next Thursday night.
If you’re a fan of what I’m up to, or of other math-tinted knitters like Norah Gaughan or Woolly Thoughts or FuzzyJay, or of fiber-tinted mathematicians like Daina Taimina or sarah-marie belcastro or Catherine Yackel, you’ll probably love it.
Thursday, March 24 at 6:30
“Developments in Mathematical Art”
Central Booking
111 Front Street, Gallery 210
(F to York Street, down the hill and turn left)
More info here.
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3 Responses to Passionate Geometry
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This was helpful and interesting to me. My daughter loves to paint, but gets very upset and angry with herself for it not being “realistic” enough. She is eleven, and she has a very math-minded brain. I was able to take some of what was said here and apply it to her situation to continue to chip away at that notion of “what is art” for her.
Glad it was a help! From a totally different and not-mathy side, I really love the cartoonist Lynda Barry’s book What It Is. She talks about the whole “What is Art” question – most kids draw and most grown-ups don’t, and what happens in between?
Thanks for this recommendation. I love math and knitting, too, so immediately went over to see if I could find this on Netflix. Turns out it’s already in my “Watch Instantly” queue!