SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto
A John Sims Project
SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto
Journey of a MathArtist
A John Sims Project
January 23 - March 27, 2015
SCF Fine Art Gallery, Bradenton, Florida
Introduction
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but
supreme beauty -- a beauty cold and austere, like that of
sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature,
without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely
pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest
art can show.” (Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, “The Study of
Mathematics”).
Mathematics and art have long stimulated the human imagination,
and offer a stimulating dialogue on the college campus where the
artist, academic unit and community come together. In response
to this dialogue, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF)
Fine Art Gallery, in association with the Mathematics Department
and the Department of Art, Design, Humanities, and with
assistance from SCF Pride in Excellence (P.I.E.), proudly present,
“SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto, A John Sims Project.”
In “SquareRoots,” Sims examines the organizing forces of the
universe, mathematics and art, race and ethnicity and, as Sims
states, “equality, collaborative magic and social justice.” These
things are basic to human existence and have been the dialogue
inspiring innovation and revolutionary development throughout
history. As Sims states, "To see mathematically, one draws from
creativity and intuition, as with the art process itself.”
Like the ancients, Sims’ fascination with the irrational number π
(pi) can be seen throughout his exhibition and catalogue, which
serves as an enduring document of this collaboration. The
relationship between pi and art is the basis of Sims’ textile
collaboration, “Civil Pi,” with the Amish quilters; his examination
of couture with his series of pi dresses; and his strategies of
cultural revolution explained by Johannes Curtis Schwartzenstein
(Sims’ alter-ego) in a multimedia video production illustrating what
Gwendoline DuBois Shaw describes as “…the synesthetic
relationships latent within empirical sequences.” In addition, Shaw
references Shelley’s “Frankenstein” when describing Sims as
“…a hubristic scientist who challenges the laws of life and
death…[and] bigoted assumptions about who can control
fundamental geometric laws and equations…in an effort to create
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a new, hybrid, creative language” (Shaw, Gwendolyn DuBois.
“Square Roots revolution-by-number”. Transition International
Review). Furthermore, Sims’ own provocation that “Pi is one of the
few mathematical constants that have successfully entered the
pop-culture psyche” is what Science News writer Ivars Peterson
calls attention to in his article “Quilting Pi” from Science News. As
Peterson observes, “When John Sims contemplates a number, he
sees color and shape…and an intriguing, enigmatic number such
as pi…conjures up vivid patterns that belong on quilts” (Peterson,
Ivars. [2006]. “Quilting Pi.” Science News).
Both Sims’ Manifesto and exhibition challenge the intellectual
community, the artist in her/his studio, the visual art venues, and
ultimately, the mental spaces where, as Sims states, “the math/art
balance coexists, connections are found, and the battle between
analysis and creativity, the abstract and the concrete, and the
intellectual and emotional takes place.” In all, relationships are
drawn, and this is where Sims’ vision, his synergistic
collaborations, and his multimedia installations engage a new
generation of artists, curators and educators.
Finally, we can be sure that mathematics and art will continue to
challenge as well as stimulate the minds and imaginations of
tomorrow's practitioners and become the standard for creative
problem-solving in the future. For Sims, what matters is not
whether we consider ourselves mathematicians or artists, but
whether we are willing to engage the parts of our brain that allow
us to experience the richness and fullness in both disciplines
simultaneously. Since, to exist in this space is to experience the
“balance,” the place of unlimited possibilities and, ultimately, that
which is “sublimely pure.”
Joseph Loccisano, Exhibition Curator
January 2015
SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto
A John Sims Project
Mathematics, as a language, conceptual technology and
philosophy not only plays a foundational role in the understanding
of our physical reality, but shapes the human art process. The
mathematical instinct which moves fluidly across the various
elements of nature and culture leaves convincing evidence, from
the geometry of bee hives to the quilting circle, that mathematics,
art and community are profound partners in the search for truth,
beauty and spirit. And quilting, as process and metaphor, initiates
collaboration between mathematics and art, concept and craft,
individual and group which celebrate a space where community
becomes emissary of nature giving birth to the infinite rhythms
of structure.
SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto is a
mathematical art journey of
interdisciplinary works that span the
disciplines of visual mathematics, art,
craft, fashion, video and poetry. The
central component of the Manifesto is
a system of 13 mathematical art quilts
done in collaboration with the Alma
Sue Quilt Shop in Sarasota, Florida,
which is part of one of the largest
Amish communities in the American
South. The quilts, based on
Pythagorean mathematics, African textiles and the visualization of
the number Pi, explores the visualization of an irrational number,
an equation and the ordering of native African designs from both
Ghana and central Africa. The 8 Pi quilts are rendered in various
bases including 2, 3 and 10 which explore the look of aperiodicity
while making a connection to cultural identity. Each quilt is
associated with a co-quilt – with all of the quilts forming the
HyperQuilts whose co-quilt is the central African quilt.
www.johnsimsprojects.com/squareroots
The idea for visualizing Pi = 3.14159.. is to map the sequence of
Pi into a two-dimensional array, beginning in the center and then
color coding the digits as demonstrated below:
Elements of the quilts are used to create a collection of Pi-based
dresses that explores issues around the body, race and
combinatorial diversity. Also a music piece was developed by
mapping Pi into the key of b-flat, then recorded by the famed
Kenny Drew Jr., as a 12 bar blues composition. Everything is
brought together with a short film featuring the poetic
performance of Johannes Curtis Schwarzenstein, the
AfroGermanJewishMathArtPoet - the metaphysical
interdisciplinary cross-cultural QuiltMaster. The poem
performance serves as the text component of the Manifesto.
This Manifesto loudly declares that mathematics is not just for the
sciences but for the arts as well. Furthermore, this Manifesto also
declares that quilting is not just for making bedding or craft art,
but serves as a powerful connecting tool and metaphor for the
very essence of an interdisciplinary cross-cultural experience. And
when mathematics and art, as parameters of human cognition,
are quilted together as Mathematical Art, there is a magical
moment when structure and spirit meet in a metaphysical
communion of heightened vision. In other words, this work
declares and celebrates without hesitation, the Squares of
Mathematics and the Circles of Art and their intersecting quilted
Roots, thereby, bringing structure, expression and community to
our complex and ever-evolving Tree of Nature.
John Sims
January 2015
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Johannes Curtis Schwarzenstein, The AfroGermanJewishMathArtPoet
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QuiltedRoots: A Manifested Future by Johannes-Curtis Schwarzenstein
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Seeing Pi, 2006, 90” x 90”, cotton
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Pi in Black and White, 2008, 92” x 92”, cotton
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Black and White Pi, 2008, 90” x 90”, cotton
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White and Black Pi, 2008, 90” x 90”, cotton
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American Pi, 2008, 92” x 92”, cotton
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African American Pi, 2008, 90” x 90”, cotton
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Amish Pi, 2006, 92” x 92”, cotton
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Civil Pi Movement, 2006, 93” x 93”, cotton
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3 2 + 4 2 = 5 2, 2008, 90” x 90”, cotton
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3 2 + 4 2 = 5 2: 5 ways, 2008, 86” x 86”, cotton
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The MathArtist, 2008, 101” x 80”, cotton
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The Political MathArtist, 2008, 92” x 78”, cotton
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The African Quilt, 2008, 89” x 89”, cotton
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The HyperQuilt, 2008, Video Installation
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About John Sims
Acknowledgements
John Sims is an interdisciplinary conceptual artist, creating
multimedia projects spanning the areas of mathematics, art,
text, performance and political-media activism. His main
projects are informed by the vocabulary of mathematical
structure, the politics of sacred symbols and poetry as ally to
the visual arts. As the former coordinator of mathematics at
Ringling College Art and Design, he designed a visual
mathematics curriculum for artists and visual thinkers. He has
lectured and exhibited nationally and internationally and has
curated more than 15 mathematical art exhibitions, including
the exhibition/film project “Rhythm of Structure: Bowery and
Beyond,” which featured more than 75 artists and poets. His
work has been featured in the science journal Nature, Art in
America, Sculpture, BOMB magazine, FiberArts, NYArts,
Science News, CNN, New York Times and the Washington Post.
I would like to thank Ella Toy and the staff at Alma Sue Quilt
Shop for their invaluable help in making these quilts. Ella’s
continuous intellectual curiosity, love for the arts and
background in science was the perfect storm to inspire a
windmill of ideas. I want to thank Kimberly Hutsal, the
artist/sewing assistant for the quilt project. Her hard work,
remarkable skills and focus contributed so much. For the
dresses, I want to shout to Ciera Wells for bringing form to the
vision, and to Kenny Drew Jr., for a stupifying recording of
Blue Pi.
I am indebted to Kevin Dean, for his incredible mentorship,
critical voice and for being a role model as an artist, curator
and educator. I must thank Joanna Weber, both first as a
curator at the Ringling Museum and after for championing this
body of work.
I wish to acknowledge the folks and venues that have shown
their support by exhibiting my quilt works. First much
appreciation to A. M. Weaver for placing my quilts along side
Sol LeWitt in her group show, Form and Function: Mathematics
and Beyond Contemporary Art at the Noyes Museum, in 2007.
Also, I am grateful to Corrine Jennings and Joe Overstreet
Kenkeleba House for their support since the beginning and
bringing the SquareRoots work in progress to the Wilbur
Jennings Gallery in the east village, New York City, in 2008.
And there is a special thanks to Joseph Loccisano, a smart and
daring curator at State College of Florida for both showing and
collecting my work. I am honored to have his support and
appreciation. Finally, I am extremely grateful to all those who
helped put this catalogue together, including Matías García
Posadas and Kim Sillen, and the SCF Creative Services and
Marketing department.
Dedications
I wish to dedicate this exhibition at State College of Florida to the following collaborators who have passed during the development of
this work. I will be forever blessed to have worked and communed with these generous hearts and brilliant minds.
Kevin Dean (1950-2014) • Kenny Drew Jr. (1958-2014) • Joanna M. Weber (1959-2010)
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All images used by permission from John Sims. All rights of included images reserved by John Sims.
Fine Art Gallery
Bradenton, FL
P R O J E C T S