Friday mornings are used by 4th year students to present work, usually two or three people, to the rest of the class where the work is critically analysed and discussed. During a recent critique, we were looking at a work presented by Heather Dimarco, Zero to Infinity, 2010.
Infinity to Zero, 2010, Heather Dimarco (Image courtesy of artist)
It produced an engaging conversation between students and tutors on their understanding of infinity and zero. Infinity was the aspect that I found to be the most thought-provoking element to the work. By having the two mirrors facing towards each other a ‘column of infinity’ was created.
It is through our imagination that we are able to understand or visualise the impossible that is infinity. Without it we could not envision the mirror reflecting itself to infinity or the golden spiral continuing on forever. Infinity has no place in reality, it is a concept typically used in mathematics or physics that can never really exist. It is placed in equations, that use real numbers, the problem being that infinity is not achievable; it has no beginning or end, boundless and never-ending and therefore cannot exist alongside the real.
Artistic interpretations of infinity or mathematical equations can prove to be fascinating and stimulating. The soundscape, 1.618, and accompanying video by musician BT and director Scott Pagano demonstrated this superbly.
This Binary Universe is the 5th studio album by Brian Wayne Transeau, known simply as BT. The work 1.618, taking the value of the golden ratio to the nearest four digits, is both a musical and visual interpretation to the golden ratio. It is both powerful and incredibly beautiful; the audio is a combination of electronic ambient soundscapes, live orchestration and glitch music accompanied visually by amazing geometric and natural landscapes.
Andy Thomson 