Josep Rey Nadal
Artists
Josep Rey Nadal
Mathematical artist and creative museographer
MMACA (Mathematics Museum of Catalonia)
La Garriga, Catalonia, Spain
Statement
I am a mathematician, a former teacher, an artist and a mathematical and creative museographer in the Mathematics Museum of Catalonia. Part of my art consists in the creation of interactive modules for the Mathematics Museum. The module must be aesthetically and emotionally suggestive. It needs to make the visitor eager to act manipulating and thinking mathematically. The module has to communicate. The goal is to appeal to our innate senses and our internalized knowledge. We build bridges between math, art and education.
Artworks
Interactive dodecagonal latticework
57 x 58 x 30 cm
wood
2021
It is a vertical puzzle, so you need to use your sense of balance and start it from the bottom end.
The goal is to weave the dodecagon with 60 pieces. 24 rhombuses with a 30º acute angle, 24 rhombuses with a 60º acute angle and 12 squares.
The challenge of being vertical makes you want to solve it, and the beautiful resulting aesthetic makes you satisfied after the experience.
Once build, you can observe the symmetry of your created rose window. We attached four photos to show quite different cases of symmetry.
As there are a lot of possible solutions because it is relatively easy to create one, we also invite you to think a way to count them all.