2015 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Susan McBurney
Artists
Susan McBurney
Western Springs, IL
Statement
Complexity generated with simple rules and elements is a common theme in mathematics. Computer graphics programs extend the reach of the modern artist and the results are often very unexpected. The generating program and/or the algorithm can be either simple or complex. Coming from a math and computer science background, I am especially delighted when the output is intrinsically attractive and mathematically inviting.
Artworks
Spiral Hypercubes
8x10 inches
Digital computer art
2014
Arranged on an Archimedean spiral, these designs all derive from the four-dimensional hypercube. Although a hypercube cannot be physically present in three-dimensional space, a model can be realized, similarly to the process of a 3-D object casting a 2-D shadow. This 3-D model can then be further reduced to a drawing on a 2-dimensional plane. Each of the designs shown is a 2-dimensional drawing of a 3-dimensional model of a four-dimensional object. Each object began with a hypercube which was simply skewed in some manner, usually by dragging a point or edge. The variety of designs simply produced is especially interesting. In each of them, one can vaguely locate the eight cubes that make up the hypercube.