My name is Bella Villarreal, and I am a student at Grinnell College. My design process focused on reclaimed materials, and a sense of youth and joy. I wanted to make my piece describe an interesting math concept in an accessible way. I think beautiful art can make an impactful entrance into math and creativity is a vital (and often forgotten in early education) part of math. I would love to see math appeal to more young students through an artistic lens.
Looks
These are the Pantors! The brightly colored connection pieces describe C1, C2, and C3 in the Cantor Set, demonstrating the way the Cantor Set is found. They also play with current jean trends, and bright colors.
Photographer: Jeanne Russell
Photographer: Jeanne Russell
Photographer: Jeanne Russell
About the look
Pantors
Denim, velvet, velour
2024
My design process began in my Measure Theory class, when my professor started talking about the cantor set and all I could think was WOW! That's so cool! (the cantor set is an uncountable, nowhere dense set of measure zero!) I have had a fascination with art and math for as long as I can remember, a fascination which was recently fueled by my visit to the JMM last winter. Listening to so many math-art-maticians I was inspired to think creatively about the concepts I am learning. Hence, the Pantors.
I used some second hand jeans, old denim placemats and bits of fuzzy velvet-like fabric I had lying around my bedroom. They are made fully out of recycled materials! I was inspired by recent trends of pants with cut outs, and wanted to make something fun, bright, trendy and accessible out of the math concepts that I love.
These days in education, math can be a controversial subject. Many people have developed a strong aversion to math from a young age, and I would love to explore art as an entrance to math education. This is why I focused on accessibility and appeal to a young audience. The Pantors, play with current trends of cut outs and patchwork in jeans, as well as a wide leg style.
