Nicolas Thiant

Statement

The use of geometrical shapes is a recurrent pattern in my paintings, but what I present here is more conceptual. This work presenting itself as a puzzle is not a representation of mathematical objects but rather an attempt to depict the very essence of mathematics. More precisely, it was conceived as an allegory of a philosophical conception of mathematics which is mathematical Platonism, according to which there are abstract mathematical objects whose existence is independent of us and of our language, thought and practices. Mathematical truths are therefore not invented but discovered by mathematicians. Solving this puzzle is then akin to mathematical research and, by creating such artworks, the artist turns himself into a demiurge.

Artworks

This artwork is a three-level Sudoku puzzle (letters, cell colours and letter colours). Solving it reveals the word PLATONISM. The chosen colours are the vertices of a regular-faced polyhedron in the RGB colour space. As for the font, it was originally designed by Bauhaus artist Josef Albers. Note that the idea of a three-level Sudoku with colours seems to be original.