2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Reza Sarhangi
Artists
Reza Sarhangi
Mathematics Professor
Department of Mathematics, Towson University
Towson, Maryland, USA
Statement
I am interested in Persian geometric art and its historical methods of construction, which I explore using the computer software Geometer's Sketchpad. I then create digital artworks from these geometric constructions primarily using the computer software PaintShopPro.
Artworks
![Image for entry 'Dance of Stars I'](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubmit.bridgesmathart.org%2Frails%2Factive_storage%2Fblobs%2Fproxy%2FeyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6NzA1NSwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ%3D%3D--63c13739a5c4e7a03b12c25dd205d937df6873b7%2Fmragheh.jpg&w=1536&q=75)
Dance of Stars I
12"X12"X12"
heavy paper
2013
Dance of Stars I is one of the Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra, the Small Stellated Dodecahedron, with Schläfli Symbol (5/2, 5). It has been ornamented by the sâzeh modular tiles, that are used in a majority of tiling that conform to local fivefold symmetries. In an article that appeared in Science, the authors proposed the possibility of the use of a set of tiles, girih tiles, by the medieval craftsmen, for the composition of the underlying pattern. Ink outlines for these girih tiles appear in panel 28 of the Topkapi scroll. I used girih tiles and left the dashed outlines in the final tessellation. I also included rectilinear patterns that appear as an additional small-brick pattern in the decagonal Gunbad-i Kabud tomb tower in Maragha, Iran.