Sunday 10 July 2011

Mathematics and Me

Watching - 29cmx25cm - Acrylic on Canvas

At school given the choice between studying maths and daydreaming I always chose the latter not that I was ever given the choice. Even so I always found geometry interesting. Most of my paintings are carefully designed using, in part, mathematical principles. These principles are only half remembered (I was daydreaming) and somewhat embellished by the flights of my daydreams.

When a painting is going well the painting seems to paint itself with the artist acting almost as an intermediary – some people say this is the unconscious mind taking control, others say it is God and some say it's the left side of the brain. Whatever the reason may be, I think of it as a version of daydreaming. Using maths (however imprecise) in the planning stage of a painting makes me feel that at least part of the process comes from me.

Journalist: “Would you describe yourself as a protest singer?”
Bob Dylan: “No, I’m not a protest singer. In the USA I haven’t been called a protest singer since I was a little boy. I sing ordinary mathematical songs.”

(Stockholm, Sweden, 28th April 1966)


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