Jeannie Moberly
I like to solve problems with mathematics. Art gives me the perfect
excuse and outlet to do this. Perhaps it's part of the cogitative
process to analyze with numbers. I see behind art - ratios, formulas,
tessellations and transformations. With computer art those pages of
calculations are hidden though I wish to interact with them. I've
embarked on a problem that intrigues me, that of projective geometry.
I'm gathering my tools. My goals are far off with many diversions
between. But I don't worry because the road is more important than the
destination.
In 2001, CJ Fearnley and I started to read Coxeter's Geometry,
independently for different objectives, together tackling the
problems. We haven't finished yet.
This construction is part of a paper that I did with CJ Fearnley
after reading a story (1) and a book (2) about mathematical
aspects of the story. We explored the story in light of our
investigations into harmonic properties, including Apollonian
circles and rational nets. CJ did Geogebra and SageMath diagrams.
I used those to imagine what the almost infinite library might
look like: a layout that might not be honeycombed, spiral
staircases that went every which way, multiple vanishing points,
mirror translations, and a librarian (based on CJ) that goes on
stamping books that can never be counted.
(1) Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel, 1941
(2) William Bloch, The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library
of Babel, 2008.