By Whitney Hale, Kayla Powell
In conjunction with the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky exhibition Curves in Math, Waves in Glass, Origami and Glass Works, father-son team, Martin Demaine and Erik Demaine, will discuss the relationship of art and mathematics in a lecture scheduled April 24. The exhibition, which opened April 21, runs through May 26.
Martin Demaine and Erik Demaine will present Algorithms Meet Art, Puzzles and Magic at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at the Worsham Theater in the UK Student Center. The lecture and exhibition, which are free and open to the public, are made possible with support from the UK Department of Mathematics and UK College of Arts and Sciences, the Cerel Family Foundation, and Harry and Arlene Cohen.
In 1998, Martin Demaine and Erik Demaine began their collaborative exploration of the art of origami and how it relates to the science of geometric folding algorithms. Appreciating mathematics and art as inseparable entities, they gained insight into each field and these discoveries are reflected in their exhibition. Earlier this month, father and son were awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for current research into paper folding, whicih holds promise for breakthroughs in fields ranging from engineering to pharmaceuticals.
Erik, who has a doctorate in computational origami, has gained recognition as a professor, computer scientist, mathematician and artist. In 2001, at the age of 20, he became the youngest professor ever to join the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2003, Erik received a MacArthur Fellowship. He has also received the Canadian Governor General’s Gold Medal and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Doctoral Prize for the best doctoral thesis and research.
His father, Martin, is an artist-in-residence in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as a technical instructor and visiting scientist. Their work is part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.
For more information regarding the lecture or exhibition, contact the Art Museum at UK at 859-257-5716 or visit the website at www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.
The Art Museum at UK is located in the Singletary Center for the Arts at Rose Street and Euclid Avenue. The hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday.
