The Art of Nathan Selikoff

Mathematical Art Online

nathan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:58:27 +0000

A friend of mine asked me the other day if I knew of any good sources of math art wallpaper as Google was not turning up anything very good. While I don’t have any specific sources of desktop backgrounds, I do have some great sources for mathematical artwork. Over the past few years I have participated in the Bridges Math Art Conference and the Joint Mathematics Meetings, both of which have exhibitions of mathematical art every year. There is a full list of these online math art galleries, and here is a selection of just one of my favorites from each of the four exhibitions that I have participated in:

"Harmonograms of Moscovich" by Ivan Moscovich. Analog computer originals. 24" x 24". 1968.

More math art from Bridges 2010

"Illuminated Shamsa" by Anita Chowdry. Gampi paper, hand painted with water based hand ground mineral pigments and 24 ct. gold, 36cm X 36 cm, 2007.

More math art from Bridges 2009

"Berlin_Airport_Express_01" by Hans Dehlinger. 2007, Pen-Plotter-Drawing, Pencil on Paper, 30 x 35 cm.

More math art from Bridges 2008

"Wave (32)" by Goran Konjevod. One folded square sheet of paper, 10" x 10" x 5", 2006. First prize.

More math art from the 2009 JMM SIGMAA-ARTS Exhibition

The Importance of Having (and Using) an Art Mailing List

nathan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:19:31 +0000

In May of 2009 I participated in an algorithmic mathematical art workshop at Rutgers University’s DIMACS (Center for Discrete Mathematics and Experimental Computer Science). The three day program was a great opportunity to share my artwork and to be inspired by other artists, mathematicians, and computer scientists.

As I though about how to share my experience at this workshop with you in this post, I asked myself, how did this opportunity come about, anyway? A quick search in my email pulled up the answer: I was invited to present at this workshop as a direct result of an email newsletter, plus a previous art exhibit.

Here is the (partial) chain of events: I exhibited my artwork at a juried show in July 2008; a visitor to the exhibition saw my work and was interested enough to sign up for my art mailing list; I sent out an email newsletter in February 2010; this same visitor responded positively to the new work and happened to be in a position to invite me to the DIMACS workshop.

I have many other stories like this. Art marketing is challenging and requires perseverance, but the small, consistent things that you do will make a difference.

It often feels like this Feigenbaum diagram, which I included in my slides as a primer on how order transitions to chaos through a series of period-doubling bifurcations. Think of yourself starting on the left-hand side of the graph, plodding through all of the little tasks related to art business that aren’t directly related to creating art. It might not feel like you’re getting anywhere.

But whenever you take an opportunity to expose your artwork to an audience, the line in the graph splits – two new fans are born – and your capacity to reach more people grows. Before you know it, the whole thing blows up and you start to reap the rewards of the effort you put in to networking, exhibiting, giving out business cards, polishing your website, keeping up your records, etc.

So here’s an encouragement to myself and other artists to always remember to have a mailing list sign up sheet when you exhibit your work, and then use that mailing list!

By the way, if you haven’t signed up for my art mailing list, I invite you to sign up now. In addition to getting the inside scoop on my artwork and related happenings, you will have exclusive access to a desktop wallpaper version of Helios, one of my favorite artworks.

Personal highlights from DIMACS

Besides having the opportunity to share my own artwork, I benefited greatly from the presence of many creative and brilliant people. I am always pleasantly surprised at how down-to-earth nearly everyone is at this type of event, regardless of how famous they are. I think it has something to do with the cross-pollination of different disciplines. Regardless, here are some of my personal highlights:

Bahman Kalantari’s hospitality
Heleman Ferguson’s demonstration of an ancient rope-twisting algorithm
Ruth Mateus-Berr, Petra Ilias, and Walter Lunzer’s very creative and engaging presentation
Hanging out with Ken Perlin, the creator of Perlin noise and a master of blending computer science and play
Rinus Roelofs’ math-inspired sculpture
Meeting Lillian Schwartz, a pioneering computer artist
Gunter Weiss’ impromptu song about the progression of number theory, set to the tune of Drunken Sailor
Dirk Huylebrouck’s demonstrations of the ancient history of math, including the Ishango bone
A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Osmos, a creative independent video game

Full list of speakers

You can view the slides from my presentation, or watch it on YouTube:

Aesthetic Explorations of Algorithmic Space – Slides

Aesthetic Explorations of Algorithmic Space – Video

Helios iPhone App Icon Spotted in the Santa Monica Apple Store

nathan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:33:42 +0000

This is a bit old (January of this year) but the icon for the Helios iPhone app is pictured here (I licensed my artwork, Helios to the developers). Exciting!

Bridges Pécs 2010 a Success; Thank You United Arts!

nathan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:57:09 +0000

Amy and I got back a few weeks ago from a two week adventure in Hungary and Austria, the first week of which was spent at a math / art conference called Bridges Pécs 2010 in Pécs, Hungary. The conference is always a blast, bringing together a few hundred brilliant people from diverse geographic and intellectual areas. Pictured here is a Sierpinski tetrahedron collaboratively created in a workshop led by Vi Hart, who started us out with basic balloon twisting and moved into “computational” balloon twisting. Having learned how to first make a balloon octahedron wand, we learned how to make tetrahedra out of two balloons, and after much squeaking, locked them all together into the final form.

At the Bridges conference, there is always a visual art exhibition of “math art”, mathematically inspired art, art that uses math, and various other categories of smart art. This year for my submission I brought a Mac Mini that ran Æxploration, my interactive strange attractor renderer. I had a great time watching people play with the software and explore unique forms and shapes among the infinite possibilities represented by the algorithm.

A big “Thank You” to United Arts of Central Florida, who provided the Mac Mini that ran my installation in the gallery through a Professional Development Grant!

Upgrade / Downgrade Exhibition at the Open Concept Gallery

nathan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:56:50 +0000

A last minute contact facilitated by my page on Rhizome.org led to a quick exhibition of Society of Stickpeople – A New Beginning (dvd version). If you’re near Grand Rapids during the short exhibition window, check it out (and let me know how it looks – I won’t be able to be there in person). Official announcement follows.

Upgrade/Downgrade

Open Concept Gallery is excited to present Upgrade/Downgrade, a multimedia exhibition demonstrating the experimentation and opposing relationship of nature versus or combined with technology.

The opening reception will take place on August 27th from 6pm-10pm. Admission is $3 for students and $5 general admission and includes appetizers and wine. Gallery hours are by appointment only, Monday-Friday, 1pm-5pm.

Artists include: Cory VanderZwaag, Damien Borowik, Josh Lord, Lacey Peacock, Levi van Veluw, and Nathan Selikoff.

Exibition curated by: Brooke Wendt and Kelly Maximiuk

More Information

Exhibition Dates: August 27th – September 6th

Open Concept Gallery (warning: flash website)
50 Louis St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
616-540-3860
info@openconceptgallery.org