A Mathematician in a School of Art
Dr. Edmund Harriss merges mathematics and art through teaching and projects, emphasizing collaboration, creativity, and the importance of failure in the creative process while advocating for broader recognition in mathematics.
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Dr. Edmund Harriss, a mathematician and artist at the University of Arkansas, explores the intersection of mathematics and art in his work. He emphasizes that mathematics and art are interconnected, with artistic thinking enhancing mathematical inquiry and vice versa. Harriss has created notable works, including the Harriss spiral and the Curvahedra construction toy, and has co-authored several mathematical coloring books aimed at making mathematics accessible and engaging. His teaching approach encourages collaboration between math and art students, fostering creativity and ownership of mathematical concepts. One of his significant projects involved a sculpture in a university courtyard, which was developed through student engagement and mathematical principles. Harriss also reflects on the implications of naming mathematical objects after individuals, advocating for a broader recognition of collaborative contributions in mathematics. He encourages aspiring creators of mathematical art to embrace failure as a part of the creative process, suggesting that exploration and experimentation can lead to unexpected successes.
- Dr. Edmund Harriss integrates mathematics and art in his teaching and projects.
- He has authored popular mathematical coloring books to engage a wider audience.
- His sculpture project involved student collaboration and mathematical principles.
- Harriss critiques the practice of naming mathematical concepts after individuals.
- He advises embracing failure as a key part of the creative process in mathematical art.
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9 commentsQuasi-periodic Islamic wall tilings are a whole interesting black hole, e.g. see this paper https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1135491
This really resonates with me. Unfortunately "the two cultures" polarizes people into viewing artists as airheads doing random artifacts or mathematicians as weirdos working on mostly useless stuff - the "I'm bad at math" confession to bond with people is common.
How can we encourage more people to study both art & math? Or Humanities and Science in general, e.g. English and Biology?
I've always fantasized about having $10M discretionary money (haven't done the math, really, just a random figure) and opening a "Arts and Sciences Academy", which would be a high school where Arts trivium (music, literature, sculpture) would be studied on equal footing and intertwined with Sciences trivium (math, physics, biology) - I know an eclectic mix.
I don't know why the very rich not pursue setting up schools like this?
[0]: https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~sequin/ [1]: https://www.josleys.com
They have a lot of more or less mathematically inspired metal sculptures for sale, for instance a functioning Klein bottle opener: https://www.bathsheba.com/math/klein/
The ads usually feature several shirts. The above one, and 5 others that advertise the wearer is an asshole (e.g. https://www.geeksoutfit.com/products/my-level-of-sarcasm-is-...).
Unfortunately, the typical art audience rarely appreciates the elegance of mathematical theorems, especially when they deal with something as complex as, say, the Riemann hypothesis. Similarly, scientists often struggle to understand the appeal of performance art, where an artist might, for instance, stare at an apple for an hour.
It is one thing that there is not enough audience for a niche thing, but the lack of criticism is even worse in my opinion.
I'm probably being a bit too harsh here, and I'm probably just jealous, but it's something that keeps frustrating me. "Circuit-bending" [1] was a particular annoying crossover of art and electronics that still makes me shudder. Using the golden ratio for no good reason is also up there.
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