Susan McBurney
The computer serves as an invaluable tool for graphic designers and can add new dimensions of precision, repeatability and experimentation to the artists’ toolkit. Coming from a math and computer science background, I am especially interested in how the computer can be used to create new designs. I am also fascinated by the beauty and complexity revealed when simple building blocks and algorithms combine to produce complex and elegant artwork.
This artwork is a two-dimensional drawing of a four-dimensional hypercube that has been manipulated to produce a design. A three-dimensional cube can be drawn on the plane in a form that is easily recognized. Our minds automatically adjust for the missing dimension and there is little ambiguity. However, because we have less experience with four dimensions, interpreting a planar picture of a 4-D object requires more imagination. Dynamic graphic drawing systems now allow the artist and mathematician alike to experiment with new forms and methods of expression. This enhanced artwork is the result of one of many possible outcomes of such an exploration..