2024 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Adam Rowe
Artists
Statement
Making a new artwork begins with a question I don’t immediately know the answer to. It ends with the artwork as the proof that the answer I came up with is true. The middle part, figuring it out, is often more time consuming than shaping the actual piece, although it is the part I enjoy the most. After studying graphic design and working in this field for several years, my desire to take the principles of design and apply them to media other than paper or the screen has steadily increased. Most of my work is “math art,” although I am hesitant to claim I know much math.
Artworks
This artwork is for any frog hopping across a pond with nine lily pads. The bottom edge is the starting bank and the upper edge is the target bank. The lower diagonal "row" represents the first hop. The height of each shape corresponds (pun) to the number of pads hopped across. The shapes are also color-coded. The upper row represents subsequent hops. Each pill shape is a symbol for the containing shape of the same color. For example, the yellow pill represents a three pad hop which can be made up of a one pad hop (white) and a two pad hop (orange) in either order; each of the orange two pad hops can be made up of one two pad hops or two one pad hops. Using the artwork will help a frog to visualize its path.
Frogs are notorious for being overwhelmed by choices. This piece removes duplicates present in the symbolic version, narrowing the possibilities down to 2^9. The bottom row represents the first hop. After choosing the first hop distance, the next branching path of options is found by following that shape's outline color to the row above. The process is repeated until the frog makes it to the other side. Black outlined shapes indicate the final hop.