Where is the Math in Art? (Roaming Hackerspace Art Walk)
Theme: Where is the math in art?
SudoRoom and Noisebridge hackerspaces will be converging on the SF Moma during Downtown San Francisco First Thursdays to interweave math, life, art and more!
Before you arrive
Admission to SF Moma will be free for Bay Area residents, because it's the first Thursday of the month, but you'll still need a (free) ticket. If you can, please reserve it ahead of time here. To make the ticket free, use your Bay Area ZIP code as the promo code.
Schedule
We'll meet at the SF Moma's new Kara Walker installation Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), which is in part inspired by science fiction writer Octavia Butler's novels Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. We could start the walk by talking about how mathematical ways of thinking resemble and differ from the "Earthseed" philosophy from the Parable books. Where we go after that is up to all of us, but we've planned out a few more discussion pieces, including:
The Art of Sound exhibit: the geometry of speaker grilles; math as a graphic design tool.
Anselm Kiefer's "Melancholia": flaws and sorrow in math, art, and life.
Zarina's "Tasbih" and Olafur Eliasson's "One-way colour tunnel": math as an artistic foundation; math as a spiritual experience.
We'll bring handouts with conversation fuel for some of the pieces, like this quotation from the narrator of Parable of the Sower:
I’m trying to speak—to write—the truth. I’m trying to be clear. I’m not interested in being fancy, or even original. Clarity and truth will be plenty, if I can only achieve them. If it happens that there are other people outside somewhere preaching my truth, I’ll join them. Otherwise, I’ll adapt where I must, take what opportunities I can find or make, hang on, gather students, and teach.
Find Us
Find where we are by chatting on this Lu.ma page as we roam the city.
Optional Supplies
Bringing a sketchbook might make it easier to talk about and remember the math we find. The organizers will bring one or two spares for people who want one but don't have one.
For talking about the Kara Walker installation, it might be nice to bring the Earthseed verses from the Parable novels—or even copies of the novels, if you have them.
About This Event
This idea sprung from our sessions of Morning Math at the SudoRoom Hackerspace and the main event page is at https://sudoroom.org/events/hackerspace-roaming-art-walk-walking-meetup/
We can visit SF Moma for for free thanks to Downtown First Thursdays—A free monthly street party hosted in Downtown San Francisco taking place on every first Thursday of the month from 5pm to 10pm