Art and Infinity
From Prep08Wiki
When one dives into endlessness, in both time and space, farther and farther without stopping, one needs fixed points or milestones past which one speeds. Without these, one's movement does not differ from standing still. There must be stars along which one shoots, beacons from which one can measure the road covered. - M.C. Escher[1]
One strong theme uniting much of Escher's work is the desire to represent the infinite. His tessellations have a potential infinity, but must stop at the edge of the print, his hyperbolic tessellations and work with self-similar and fractal images depict a contained infinity by changing scale. Many of his other works, e.g. escherwiki:Möbius Strip II (Red_Ants) suggest infinity through a loop or cycle.
Create a worksheet that has your students explore some aspect of infinity through artwork. Some places to start looking for art:
- Escher's work: escherwiki:Category:Escher_Artwork
- Some other mathematical artists: escherwiki:Mathematical Artists
- Contemporary digital/computer artists.
Worksheets
- Link to your worksheets here
- File:An infinite sum.pdf This is an activity I have used in previous semesters that I'm considering revising to bring out more artistry and more emphasis on "the infinite." Angela 14:56, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
