The Editions/Artist’s Book Fair is online this year. The online “viewing room” is open until October 31st.
Follow the link here, then scroll down to find Purgatory Pie Press to see my “Cartesian Lace Bricolage” books. If you click into the Purgatory Pie Press gallery there is also a little video of the books.
I hope everyone is having a nice Autumn.
Susan
The Armory Fair is the first big art show I have attended in 18 months. There was a lot of amazing work. I chose three pieces with interesting mathematical ideas. The Rochini Gallery from London presented the marble sculptures of Gianpietro Carlesso.
“Curvatura Trentesei” from 2019 offers an elegant expression of a undulating loop. It is hard to believe it is carved from marble and not a pliable material.
AICON ART a New York gallery displayed this wall sculpture from 2015 by Rasheed Araeen.
“Red Square Breaking into Primary Colors” is constructed as a 3-D lattice of triangles. The painted 9 squares within a square are positioned like a diamond.
Galeria Curro from Quadalajara had a stunning display of Andrea Calvani’s neon work.
““Study on Stellar Magnetic Field” is from 2021. Each of the pieces illuminates a formula or diagram related to physics and Mathematics.
I have not been going to many galleries these days, so I decided to share some of my current work.
A number of years ago I came up with a hyperbolic circle form that could be constructed from paper circles with a radial slit in each. I combined the circles by overlapping about 45 degrees from their centers.
The resulting sculptures answer the question: what happens if a circle has more than 360 degrees , 675 degrees? 990 degrees? You build a saddle shape or a ruffle.
After drawing my Quadratic Lace patterns for a few years I decided to try my hand at developing hyperbolic forms from squares. I start with a series of Squares each with a single slit from the center point of the Square to the center point of one of the sides. I fold the squares in half both horizontally and vertically and then rearrange the folds into an accordion fold of 4 small squares. I combine squares in a similar fashion as the circles, overlapping one small square. I combine 4 of the large squares into one hyperbolic Square. To give the sculpture a linear quality I have attached a few together alternating directions.
Anyone who knows me knows, I was not going to stop with quadrilaterals. Spoiler Alert…. I have developed a form using hexagons that creates a spiral of trapezoids I am calling “Hexa-go-go”s. I also fold irregular octagons Into exploding star sculptures I call “Super Nova”s. I will post photos and more info on these two new shapes soon!
Esther K Smith and I are teaching a workshop ,“Garden of Mathematical Delights”, at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. We will be teaching artists how to make my Circle Hyperbolic and my new Hyperbolic Square book along with a few other forms.
Susan
What a long strange year it has been. I am so happy to be able to go to museums again.
Rayyane Tabet’s current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art addresses the four reliefs of Tell Halaf that have ended up in the MET’s collection. The exhibition explores Tabet’s family’s connection to the reliefs. Tabet’s great-grandfather Faik Borkhoche worked as a researcher for the excavation. Borkhoche was given a 65 foot rug by the Bedouins of Tell Hala that is the subject of Tabet’s installation “Genealogy”
The rug was to be cut into 5 equal sections, one for each of Borkhoche’s children. Then it was to be divided again in equal section for each subsequent generation.As time passes sections get smaller and smaller creating visual fractions of the genealogical history of the artist’s family.
Susan Happersett
Here in New York we had our first big snow storm last week, but I have been thinking about Hexagons and order 6 rotational symmetry for a few months. Here are two Snowflake Lace drawings to celebrate the first day of Winter.
I know 2020 has been a very sad and difficult year. Wishing you all a Safe and Happy Holidays and best wishes for a better 2021!
Susan Happersett
I know this has been a difficult six months for everyone, but there were some good things that have happened in 2020.
A bright spot for me was the publication of a Special Issue of the Journal of Mathematics and the arts devoted to Artist’s statements. Titled “Artists Viewpoints”, you can find it for free until the end of the year by following this link and scrolling down to volume 14.
It has been a great honor to edit this issue. JMA is going to continue publishing an artist statement in each new issue. I encourage any artists with mathematical themes in their work to consider submitting their statement. To do that, click on the “Submit an article” button, set up an account and follow the instructions.
Susan
It is a strange year! I hope all of you are well!
Most Summers I attend the Bridges Math Art conference, and feature some of the artwork from the exhibition in this blog. This year with an active, deadly pandemic circulating the globe, the in-person conference was cancelled. Instead a virtual alternative was created. I contributed a video about some of my newest drawings. Here is my video.
Robert Bolick recently wrote a nice piece on some of my early collaborations with Dikko Faust and Esther K. Smith of Purgatory Pie Press in New York. These book arts projects feature my counted marking drawings. It also describes my Accordion Moebius form, called the “Happersett Accordion”.
Check out Robert’s article here.
Susan
With New York closed, I have been social distancing at home. My last blog was about the Armory Show in early March. I have not been out and about to look at art since then, so this blog has been on a hiatus.
But… today one of my Fibonacci drawings is featured on the American Mathematical Society’s Page-A Calendar, I decided to post the May 3rd page.
It has been a very difficult time for many people. I am hoping everyone is healthy and safe.
Susan Happersett
fibonaccisusan 