Secrets of Creation
Robin Mackay
Dec 2020 · MIT Press
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96
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About this eBook
An artist and a mathematician debate, find common ground, and jointly create an assemblage that is neither (or both) an artwork and a mathematical model.
A week-long residency project brought together artist Conrad Shawcross and mathematician Matthew Watkins to reflect on the ways in which artists use (or misuse) scientific and mathematical concepts. Secrets of Creation documents this fascinating meeting of worlds, presenting both the week's discussions and debates, and the project upon which Shawcross and Watkins subsequently embarked.
Navigating a route that tacked between formalism and natural language, experts and laymen, quantity and quality, poetics and mechanics, Shawcross and Watkins gradually forged a shared discourse in which the concerns of the artist and those of the mathematician could find a common ground. The project ended with their joint creation of an assemblage that was neither (or both) an artwork and a mathematical model.
A week-long residency project brought together artist Conrad Shawcross and mathematician Matthew Watkins to reflect on the ways in which artists use (or misuse) scientific and mathematical concepts. Secrets of Creation documents this fascinating meeting of worlds, presenting both the week's discussions and debates, and the project upon which Shawcross and Watkins subsequently embarked.
Navigating a route that tacked between formalism and natural language, experts and laymen, quantity and quality, poetics and mechanics, Shawcross and Watkins gradually forged a shared discourse in which the concerns of the artist and those of the mathematician could find a common ground. The project ended with their joint creation of an assemblage that was neither (or both) an artwork and a mathematical model.
About the author
Robin Mackay is a philosopher, Director of the UK arts organization Urbanomic, and Associate Researcher at Goldsmiths University of London.
Matthew Watkins is a non-academic mathematician who has spent time as a nomadic musician and often teaches informally at festivals and other events. He is the author of Useful Mathematical and Physical Formulae, Secrets of
Creation: The Mystery of the Prime Numbers, and You Are Here: The Biography of a Moment.
Conrad Shawcross is a British artist specializing in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas, well known for his sculptures and installations including the The Nervous System, Fraction, and Three Perpetual Chords.
Matthew Watkins is a non-academic mathematician who has spent time as a nomadic musician and often teaches informally at festivals and other events. He is the author of Useful Mathematical and Physical Formulae, Secrets of
Creation: The Mystery of the Prime Numbers, and You Are Here: The Biography of a Moment.
Conrad Shawcross is a British artist specializing in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas, well known for his sculptures and installations including the The Nervous System, Fraction, and Three Perpetual Chords.
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