Bridges 2025 Exhibition of Mathematical Art, Craft, and Design

Philippe Leblanc

Artists

Philippe Leblanc

Artist - Architect engineer

Brussels, Belgium

phl@philippeleblanc.net

https://www.philippeleblanc.net

Statement

My work reflects my joint vision as an architect and artist, showing my love of geometric abstraction. I value rationality and pure form, favoring structured over random thought organization. I have been inspired by famous irrational numbers such as $\phi$, $\pi$, or the square root of 2 or 3, which cost so much work to generations of mathematicians. As a tribute to their discoveries and calculations, I imagined representations of the decimals of these numbers expressed through their corresponding geometric forms. Thus, Pi is symbolized by a disk, the square root of two by a square, and the golden ratio Phi by a regular pentagon. The latest number I’ve explored is Euler’s constant, represented by a catenary curve.

Artworks

Image for entry '12 Golden E-Chains Spiral'

12 Golden E-Chains Spiral

40.0 x 24.0 x 24.0 cm

Plexiglass, colored glass beads, nylon thread, metallic squeeze beads

2025

Additional info

The '12 Golden E-chains Spiral' is an artistic expression of Euler’s constant $e=2.7182818...$ This little-known irrational number is nonetheless recognized by mathematicians as the most enigmatic. It plays a key role in the mathematical formula of the catenary curve. The necklaces, made of translucent glass beads representing the digits from 0 to 9, each associated with a distinct color, are suspended following a double spiral pattern inside a plexiglass box. Starting with the smallest chain and following the reading direction, one can "read" the first ~700 decimal places of $e$. The necklaces are each inscribed within a golden rectangle (1/1.618) of increasing size. The large sides of the box are golden rectangles as well.