Frank Murri : Beauty
in the infinite
For
those who celebrate international Pi Day on March 14th (3/14) , you
are in for a visual treat. Artist Frank Murri's exhibition The
Prime Ingredient in a Big Piece of Pi (π) is on display at
Tweed Regional Gallery, murwillumbah from 24 November to 22 April
2018.
Why
Pi ? Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its
diameter. Pi
is
a transcendental and irrational number. Pi has been calculated
beyond one trillion digits past its decimal point
without
repetition or pattern.
It is the epitome
of randomness. What comes before has no influence on what comes next,
there is no evident structure or pattern. It appears to be infinite
and random yet it embodies order inherent in a perfect circle. The
beauty of pi, is that it puts infinity within reach.
Frank
Murri (born 1967,
Newcastle)
is an australian artist who's practice is based in Newcastle , New
south wales. Murri
is a Self taught Sculptor, who travelled extensively
through Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia obtaining the knowledge
and developing the theories and skills of sculpting.
Over the past 10 years Murri has exhibited at Newcastle, Sydney and
Hamilton galleries in solo and group exhibitions as well as being a
finalist in various artprizes [1].
For
Murri his practice revolves around his interest in capturing not only
the truth but the beauty hidden within pure mathematics which
transends usual visual forms by abstraction from data representation.
The
visualisation of data as art is not a new concept.
Artists such as Ryoji Ikeda , Nadieh Bremer and Martin Krzywinski
have explored the various applications of pi to diverse aesthetic
outcomes [2].
Murri
has taken a unique approach to mathematical based visual art by
developing an art form that attempts to synthesise a design
aesthetic, sculpture and advocation of pure abstraction.
The
body of work,The
Prime Ingredient in a Big Piece of Pi ,
consists of a collection of 43
panels. Each 94 x 58 x 5cm. Timber, acrylic & ink on board. The
sculptural relief works are constructed from hardwood timbers such as
ramin and white wood and are wall-hung. These panels have the
first 12,586 digits of Pi enconded in them through the carving and
color coding the panels.
Describing
the visual process embued into these panels can be as dry for many as
sitting through a maths class, but it is nessesary for understanding
the work. In The Prime Ingredient in a Big Piece of
Pi - Panel #1 (1-322 digits) (Figure 1)
Murri represents each integer of pi by carving a groove into the
black timber strips which are joined to form the panels.. The first
number, 3, is carved 3cm down from the top left hand corner, next the
decimal point and from this point the next integer is carved 1cm
down, the following 4cm from the last. The numbers are placed top to
bottom, left to right and the process is repeated for the 12,586
digits. The first four prime numbers (2, 3, 5, 7) have been
highlighted with the primary colors red, yellow and blue sequencially
[3] . This structured and formulaic approach has produced a
visualisation of pi that creates a tension between order and
randomness.
The
Tweed River Art Gallery has displayed murra's artwork in a long ,
climate controlled, hallway . This space
is brightly lit by natural light from several windows and with
artificial lights which are shone down apon the panels. The windows
are located on the north side of the hallway, causing
disjointed breaks in the placement of the panels and ultimately
lossing the sense of an infinite number which is in contrast to the
connecting panels on the opposite wall.
This
being said, the works were designed to be modular, with Murri
commenting that the body of work itself, as it is based on an
infinite number, is limited by the gallery space in which it
inhabits.
The
strength of this exhibition is that on seeing the digits of pi
visualized in physical space, the hidden beauty of mathematics is
revealed. It is not just numbers on a page. We see the
beauty in the infinite complexities around us which are often
overlooked. The Prime Ingredient in a
Big Piece of Pi (π) gives you the
opportunity to take a moment to appreciate and recognize the
extent to which math has allowed us to describe reality. Exposing the
inner workings of our universe and putting the infinite within reach.
[1] https://m.tweed.nsw.gov.au/CommonLatestNewsDetail.aspx?css=tsc&Domain=www&id=2221
[2] https://m.tweed.nsw.gov.au/trgExhibitionsDetail.aspx?css=trg&id=131
[3] http://www.franceskeevilgallery.com.au/essay.php?artistID=102
[4] http://www.franceskeevilgallery.com.au/images/MURRI,Frank_CV_2.pdf
[5] https://frankmurri.wordpress.com/cv-bio/
[6] http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4634719/neverending-story-of-beautiful-fractals-photos/#slide=5
[7] http://mrag.org.au/exhibition/frank-murri-the-prime-ingredient-in-a-big-piece-of-pi/
[8] https://www.echo.net.au/2017/11/the-art-of-mathematics/
[9] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/14/10-stunning-images-show-the-beauty-hidden-in-pi/?utm_term=.b21c68f5b91c
[10] https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/pi-day-why-pi-matters
[3] http://www.franceskeevilgallery.com.au/essay.php?artistID=102
[9] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/14/10-stunning-images-show-the-beauty-hidden-in-pi/?utm_term=.b21c68f5b91c
[5] https://frankmurri.wordpress.com/cv-bio/
“This
art form I’ve developed advocates pure abstraction in an attempt to
synthesise a design aesthetic,”
Says
Kryzwinski, "Pi Day is a great time to take a moment and
recognize the extent to which, as a language to describe reality,
math has allowed us to write the details of the workings of our
universe."
"Thanks
to numbers and math, we can build devices that will deliver this text
to you. And, as you read it, we know how fast the photons will be
traveling and what happens when they hit your retina. The rest is up
to you." [9]
considering
the sequential nature of the work seems an odd choice, unless a
collector purchased purely for aesthetic consideration.
What
else can we take away from these graphics? For one, seeing all of the
digits of pi visualized in physical space should help bring home
another attribute of mathematics. Math isn't just numbers on a page:
From physics to architecture, math is the language that we use to
describe and construct the physical world around us. That's
especially true for pi, which describes a perfect circle that appears
everywhere in nature.
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