Ross J. Cocks
The movie 'Pleasantville' has a wonderful artistic technique to convey
moments of enlightenment. Every time a character experiences
enlightenment/betterment, their grayscale appearance is injected with
the slightest bit of color. I can strongly relate to this! Each time I
learn about mathematics, philosophy, and the Universe, I feel as
though my grayscale self and surroundings are being injected with
color. Coming from an absolute abyss in the earlier part of my life, I
can say with a surety that life is meant to be seen in color! At this
point, I can not hold in this truth any longer and I wish to share it
with the world, via art and architecture. I really do believe that
through these mediums we can get a glimpse of absolute beauty!
Adapting the 2D Toothpick Sequence (Applegate, Pol, and Sloane,
2010) to 3D can cause a wonderful lattice work to unfold. If we
then add a 3D Hilbert Curve to this lattice, we arrive at a
beautiful piece of geometry that is easily transformed into an
architectural framework that is akin to a 3D Maze. We can then
take this “maze” and put it through a Mobius Transformation,
arriving at a new “maze”, one that defies our experience of
physical reality (if there is such a thing). While fascinating and
beautiful in it’s own right, it is not the end story to our
composition! Adding an anthropomorphic element to the work gives
our whole creation/transformation process a sense of life and
vitality, something that can lack in mathematical art.
The gyroid (Alan Schoen, 1970) has fascinated artists and
mathematicians since its discovery. The range of uses for it in
art and architecture are endless! Rhapsody No. 02 - Op. 2021 is
the second architectural installment which I have created, which
uses the gyroid as the main parameter for form finding. This
particular pavilion seeks to harmonize with the nature around it
and create a focal point for gatherings. So many people have such
negative experiences with mathematics, however I believe with
public structures, such as this, we can allow society to
experience mathematics in a more positive and revitalizing way.