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MATHÉMATICS & ARTS |
Exhibit & Lecture |
Initialy
presented at the Institut Henri Poincaré,
Paris. France. |
January
22 - June 30, 2005 |
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- CONSTANT Jean
- Public Art Consultant, artist.
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- Jean Constant is an artist and a Public Art consultant. He was born in Paris and lives today in Los Alamos, New Mexico. His personal research relates to the poetic visualization of the mathematical world, defining means to bring closer the two disciplines of Art and Science and to engage the debate both with the scientific community and the public at large. Jean is also very active in the promotion of arts as a consultant in visual art, producer and host of TV series on visual arts, film and contemporary international culture.
- For the last five last years, he developed a regular correspondence with mathematician Richard Palais, creator of the program 3d-Filmstrip and 3DMathex, and with several members of the Mathxplor-I group in pursuing further collaboration between mathematicians and artists.
- Jean Constant believes that the role of the professional artist today is not only to recognize the heritage of a common cultural past but to help with the integration of art in modern life and develop a new esthetic for future generations.
- http://www. hermay.org/jconstant
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The following series is a poetic attempt at expressing the inherent beauty of the highly conceptual field of mathematics.
This undertaking represents several years of experimentation with a unique algorithm visualization program. Yet, more than an interpretation of the vocable and specificity of a particular discipline, it is intended to be a celebration of the intrinsic radiance of the mathematical discourse.The random combination of shapes and colors belonging to an exclusive but challenging language are meant to provide the viewer with an entertaining aesthetic experience and to incite further appreciation of a universe built upon the contribution of numerous brilliant and dedicated minds. In this endeavor, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Richard Palais who provided me with the tools for this esthetic investigation and encouraged my effort to explore further this difficult venue, and to Dr. Claude Bruter who associated me in his effort and commitment to foster an active collaboration between Science and Art.
Mathematic may be the language of a few, yet its rhythm, musicality, and elegance reaches out to many. I hope that in a small way, these images will convey my respect, admiration and appreciation for this unique form of expression. |
Click thumbnail to enlarge picture |
Aphrodite
Variation on the Moebius strip & Klein bottle. Aphrodite, a never ending loop in the psyche of mankind. The fractal manipulation reinforces the notion that regardless of any preordained dimension or system, its mystery shapes our imagination. |
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Parabolo
In mathematics, a paraboloid is a quadric, a type of surface in three dimensions. There are two kinds of paraboloid: elliptic and hyperbolic. The elliptic paraboloid is shaped like a cup and can have a maximum or minimum point. The hyperbolic paraboloid is shaped like a saddle and can have a critical point called a saddle point. It is a ruled surface. An inverted mythology celebrating the spirit of forgotten alchemists who may have inspired modern aesthetics.
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Chagall revisited
Variation on the mapping properties of a complex analytic function. The combination of multiple manipulations of the elliptical pattern within a set color scheme lead to a “Chagall – like” atmosphere as the elements floating around the surface link back to each other to make the composition whole. |
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Ascending stairways
Mapping of polynomial surfaces on a fractal background. The variations on the « Painter algorithm » patches have been outlined by lens flares to reinforce the spiral stairway effect – a very stimulating geometric proposition. |
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The Chaco Effect
Parametric Breather surface. 3 pseudospherical surfaces emerge from the legend of a lost civilization to reaffirm the dynamic of the universal mind. |
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Soft cyclones
Example of a Four Solitons surface as the curvature blends into the fractal pattern to bring a dynamic of movement in space as in a Sine Gordon equation. |
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Escape from M
Dynamic of a pseudo sphere of intrinsic hyperbolic geometry applied to surface of Gaussian curvature where the diagonals have the same length. |
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Meeting of the minds
I have always been intrigued by Manet "Dejeuner sur there”, What food would have met the requirement of this august assembly of esthetes and seekers of truth, were they scientists instead of artists? I submit that a plate of Clifford -Hopf tori donuts, Pinkall flat tori and ellipsoid shaped pastries may meet the expectation of this distinguished gathering. |
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Couples
Henneberg's minimal surface is a nonrenewable surface defined over the unit disk. It is an immersion of the real projective plane that has been multiply punctured (once at the origin and four times at each of the roots of the metric). Consequently, it is not a complete surface. Could this theory relate to Plato’s myth of the quest for the better half in each of us? |
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Jovean bees
A Three Solitons surface is a surface of Gaussian curvature minus one. An interesting projection in the physical world in term of coincidental similarities to known elements… |
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The lost one
Minimal surface, Schwarz PD family. P for cubic primitive, D for diamond and a third embedded surface in the associate family: the gyroid. The gyroid is the only known embedded triply periodic minimal surface with triple junctions. An ambiguous perspective centered on a black hole from which knowledge comes from or matter can disappear. |
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