T. G. Vanini

Statement

As a songwriter and poet as well as a mathematician I’ve long explored the boundaries between the arts and mathematics – between form, beauty and emotion. After making use of some diagrams in my research on finite set theory, I began to explore the visual world I’d opened up in terms of its aesthetic appeal, broadening my palette of mathematical tools. The current images call on vector calculus, along with the computer’s ability to map fine details of mathematical landscapes. By crafting and refining a vector or scalar field over the plane, with the aid of Mathematica software, I develop an image that strikes a chord. While they’re abstract by their nature, I am particularly drawn to suggestions of organic form or landscape.

Artworks

This is essentially a contour map of a scalar field over the real plane. The field, and the visualisation method, were chosen and developed purely for their aesthetic effect. The image also makes creative use of the quirks and contingencies of the particular algorithms used by the software to make the mapping.

This picture is a visualisation of a vector field over the real plane. Vector fields provide a good way of evoking flow and movement. It is also a reaction to and reminder of the growing climate crisis.