2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Alan Singer
Artists
Alan D. Singer
Retired Professor, School of Art & Design
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York
Statement
My transfer prints employ a computer to help render the content of the artwork. What you see is a visualization of mathematical forms called implicit surfaces which start out as an equation on paper. I use software such as 3D-Xplormath, Cinderella, Strata, and Photoshop Extended to create the scene using the resulting mathematical forms which have lighting not unlike a stage setting. The effect is somewhat surreal as a viewer finds themselves in a land of new found forms, shapes and textures.
Artworks
Monumental
12" h x 17.75" w
transfer monoprint
2011
I envision huge knot like forms that are truly monumental made of glass that preside over a digital landscape. I take data calculated by the program Knot Plot and give it the refractive index of glass or a precious stone like a ruby or sapphire. I take the resultant forms and place them in a topographical setting that is really a height map visualized through a program like Strata. Careful lighting and placement of elements makes an new art form - call it digitalism.
In the Parent's Imagination
12.25" h x 16.35" w
transfer monoprint and watercolor
2011-12
My original calculations were visualized using K 3D-Surf to give tangible form for a series of equations. The resulting implicit surfaces are organized and given a light source and textures using Strata, and Photoshop Extended. The content of the image is a kind of fantasy landscape with an operatic setting. My art is a hybrid, a combination of visual poetry and mathematics. When people see my art I hope they will be engaged by the aesthetic component without having to be fluent in the mathematics behind the images.