John Snow

Professor of Mathematics
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Belton, Texas, USA

I code for solace. The mathematics is refreshing. The coding is relaxing. Producing a mathematical work that can be appreciated by a general audience is rewarding.

Be the Maze
Be the Maze
25 x 25 cm
Digital print on aluminum
2020

The pattern of turns in this labyrinth is based on the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth. The wedge style is based on the “Man in the Maze” pattern found in artwork of the Tohono O'odham Nation in North America. The maze itself is composed of one simple closed curve formed by simulating the pouring of a chain of 20,000 beads into a vessel the shape of the maze. In some customs, the “Man in the Maze” is born in the center of the maze. The turns of the maze represent the choices and challenges that humans must endure before escaping the maze of life. In other customs, the “Man in the Maze” has just entered the maze of life in pursuit of the ultimate goal at the center. “Be the Maze” simply asks whether the human is on the inside or the outside.

Flow
Flow
25 x 25 cm
Digital print on aluminum
2020

This image depicts a portion of the Cayley table of the binary operation
x*y=sin(pi min(y^3, sin(2pi sin(x^2 sin^2(2pi y)+min^2(sin(x^2+y^2), x^2)))))
on the interval [-1,1]. Values of the operation are interpreted as colors on a line connecting two complements in RGB space.