Daily Archives: 5 de Março de 2010

Maurits Cornelis Escher (Leeuwarden, 17 /06/1898 Laren, 27/03/1972)
The Mathematical Art Of M.C. Escher (BBC-4, A Night of Numbers)

The Dutch artist M.C. Escher is best known for his often mesmerising geometrical images whose playfulness obscures a sophisticated grasp of mathematical theory. Dreaming the Impossible looks at the remarkable career and mathematical inspirations of this remarkable artist. M. C. Escher, born 6.17.1898, was a Dutch graphic artist known worldwide for his mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints that feature impossible constructions, exploration of infinity, architecture, and tessellations of the euclidean and hyperbolic plane. Of all major artists of the 20th Century, none was more influenced by maths than the Dutch artist MC Escher. Throughout his career, this superb draughtsman produced images that explored (and exploited) mathematical ideas.

BBC FOUR celebrated mathematics and the beauty of numbers with a series of programmes about this most precise and exacting of all intellectual disciplines. Throughout the night (A Night of Numbers), the channel showed films offering insights into the minds of great mathematicians, revealing the stories behind some of the great mathematical breakthroughs. The BBC’s celebration of mathematics has a strong Oxford flavour: Marcus du Sautoy presents ‘Music of the Primes’; ‘Breaking the Code’ draws on Andrew Hodges‘ biography of Alan Turing; many of the mathematical ideas in Escher’s work were suggested by Roger Penrose; and of course Andrew Wiles was an Oxford undergraduate. Some of the programmes are available as documentaries in CosmoLearning, underlined and hyperlinked, such as: The Music of the Primes, Breaking The Code, Fermat’s Last Theorem, Alan and Marcus Go Forth And Multiply.

• Fonte: A Night of Numbers – Dreaming The Impossible: The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher

Escher’s work covered a variety of subjects throughout his life. His early love of portraits, Roman and Italian landscapes and of nature, eventually gave way to regular division of the plane… Over 150 colorful and recognizable works testify to Escher’s ingenuity and vision. He managed to capture the notion of hyperbolic space on a fixed 2-dimensional plane as well as translating the principles of regular division onto a number of 3-dimensional objects such as spheres, columns and cubes. A number of his prints combine both 2 and 3-dimensional images with startling effect… His art continues to amaze and wonder millions of people all over the world. In his work we recognize his keen observation of the world around us and the expressions of his own fantasies. M.C. Escher shows us that reality is wondrous, comprehensible and fascinating….

• Fonte: Shawn Taylor (Breezewood) [ver mais]

This documentary explores the art and life of M. C. Escher. The Dutch graphic artist Maurits Corneille Escher was born in June 17, 1898.

His bizarre renderings of distorted perspectives, visual puns, and optical illusions made him a unique figure in the art world and a pop icon in the 1960s and 1970s. It seemed that an Escher print, with images flowing into one another, adorned most college dormitory rooms. His mesmerizing designs even made their way into the handiwork of South American Indians when his art was shown to them by a Peace Corps worker.

Interviews with friends and a look at his sources of inspiration in Italy and France give insight into the lively mind of this artist. Computer animated re-creations of Escher’s work, along with explanations from mathematicians, help the viewer understand and appreciate the mathematical precision and amazing intricacy of the designs.

• Fonte: The Fantastic World of M.C. Escher