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HYPERSEEING The Publication of the International Society of the Arts, Mathematics, and Architecture June 2007 www.isama.org BRIDGES DONOSTIA JULY 24-27 Articles Exhibits Resources Cartoons Books News Ilustrations Announcements Communications HYPERSEEING Editors. Ergun Akleman, Nat Friedman. Associate Editors. Javier Barrallo, Anna Campbell Bliss, Claude Bruter, Benigna Chilla, Michael Field, Slavik Jablan, Steve Luecking, John Sullivan, Elizabeth Whiteley. Page Layout. Ranjith Perumalil JUNE, 2007 Cover Photo: Journeys by John Robinson Articles News Article Submission John Robinson, Sculptor Richard Serra Sculpture For inclusion in Hyperseeing, au- by Ronnie Brown thors are invited to email articles for The Institute for Figuring the preceding categories to: Hyperbolic Origami [email protected] by Adrienne Sack Book Reviews Articles should be a maximum of From Engineering to Art four pages. by Douglas Peden Communications David Chamberlain: Melodic Forms by Nat Friedman Resources Cartoons Illustrations Knot Theory by Ergun Akleman Announcements JOHN ROBINSON, SCulptor, RONNIE BroWN May 5, 1935 -APRIL 6, 2007 tures on knots, should be brought to the attention of the mathematical community. In 1988 I realised that John might be able to help with an exhi- bition on `Mathematics and Knots’ we at Bangor were designing for the Pop Maths Roadshow at Leeds in 1989. We had intended to include knots in art and history, but this be- came too ambitious, as it was hard enough to get knots in mathematics finished. So I telephoned John and asked if he was interested in an ex- hibition. He replied that in the time available we should be able to do something good. The following April, he invited me to his home in Somerset to help choose the sculptures, and then drive up to Leeds to see how they should be displayed. We clicked, and I was fascinated to learn his ca- reer as a self taught artist and of the genesis of his sculptures. He left an English private school at 16, and eventually married and became a sheep farmer in Australia. There he began his self education in as- tronomy and science, dazzled by the night sky of the desert. One day Figure 1. Adagio he bought some modelling clay, and began modelling friends and chil- dren. This work went so well, that he and Margie decided to sell up, I first saw John Robinson’s work playing without fear among these and for him to try his hand at a ca- by chance in 1985, at his Freeland beautifully crafted, abstract shapes. reer as a sculptor in England, since Gallery in Albemarle St, off Pica- It seemed to me sensible that this Europe was the Mother of Western dilly, London. I was amazed by abstract work, some of which could Art. Within two years he had sold the sculptures of children happily be used to illustrate my planned lec- some life size sports figures and his Figure 2. Consilience Figure 3. Courtship Dance career as a realistic sculptor was haps it could also symbolise other the twisting of other shapes. I have in train. He has sculpted over 100 values in life. So he embarked on used these three photos in Figure 16 children. To illustrate this work, I his series of Symbolic Sculptures, showing the making of Eternity to would like to show Umbrella Chil- comprising over 100 items, and illustrate the topological concept of dren in Figure 12. these are what we most want to fibre bundle: the fibre is the trian- show in this essay for ISAMA. gle, the base is the circle, and all is In 1970 he was meditating after lis- put together with a twist. The name tening to a Mozart Violin Concerto, The range of intention of these of the sculpture is his own twist on and a sculpture came into his mind. works is remarkable. He is often the idea. What is also remarkable He excitedly dashed to his studio inspired by mathematical forms. is John’s force in seeing an idea and made Adagio in Figure 1. It On thinking of the Möbius Band as through to the completed sculpture. then occurred to him that if sculp- a line moving and twisting around ture could symbolise music, per- a circle, he began to investigate A further example of this is Rhythm Figure 4. Freeland Gallery Figure 5. Gordian Knot Figure 6. Immortality of Life in Figure 15, where the form cut from an egg, the cycle of life. had to be cast from 15 parts, then These are part of a series including welded together in such a way as to also: Womb, Conception, Embryo, preserve the symmmetry despite Love Knot, which indicate his at- differential cooling. The mathemat- titude to life and the family. John ical form of this sculpture is a 15- is entirely self taught, but his art is 4 torus knot; John found the shape generated by his life as part of the by wrapping ribbon around an in- wide world, with experience of ex- ner tube, 15 times one way, 4 times ploring Western Australia, working the other) and being amazed that it his own sheep farm and bringing up eventually came back to the start. a family. Note that 15 and 4 are coprime, have no common divisors. The One of John’s sculptures arose fom name of the sculpture derives from a visit of the blind geometer Bernard the helical form of DNA, which was Morin to John in 1990. Bernard is much in the air at the time, and the very keen on model making, and he outer circle represents the Universe. explained a a version of the Möbius This form also can be seen as a fibre Band which is at the heart of a mod- bundle. el of the Projective Plane in flat ele- ments. We cut this out under Ber- Courtship Dance in Figure 3 was nard’s directions. John transformed inspired by the dance of Brolga, a this into the amazing sculpture Jour- bird of the crane family, seen by ney, which he sees as giving visions John at a billabong. John’s subtitle of horizons. is: `the necessary prelude to cre- ation’. Note that the two forms are John often makes an impact each cut from an egg. The theme without using strong technical ef- of the cycle of life is continued in fects. Joy of Living (inspired by several sculptures, one of which is dancing in a Greek village) is an ex- Figure 7. Earth Time Maternity, whose outer form is cut ample, where the rhythm of dance is from an egg. A similar form is in conveyed entirely by the form. John Mortality: from nothing to nothing, loved making connections between Figure 8. Janus Figure 9. Joy of Living Figure 10. Maternity Figure 11. Mortality Figure 12. Umbrella Children areas of thought. For his reason John made several other versions who has such deep appreciation of he was taken by the book of E.O. of this concept, and all three may the sciences, and for example can Wilson on `Consilience’, and made be seen outside the Isaac Newton appreciate the scientific account two version of sculptures with that Institute in Cambridge, England. of matter-antimatter in Janus, let name: here is one of them, the most His first version was made out of alone express it, or the notion of recent. squares. He realised this illustrates Earth Time, as a small part of the the fact that the whole may be treck from the big bang to the in- It is a version of the Borromean more than the sum of its parts, and finite stretches of time, but with its Rings, in that it is formed of three so called it Creation. It is easy to special qualities. elements no two of which are linked make out of card! This shows the but the whole cannot be taken apart. range of the work. It is a rare artist Finally, I would like to show John’s Figure 13. Prometheus’ Hearth Figure 14. Pulse Figure 15. Rhthym of Life Figure 16. The making of ‘Eternity’ sculpture `Immortality’ in Figure no regrets, and in the midst of his Limitée, who have also sponsored 6. This came about as a version family. For more on his work see our collaborations on exhibitions, of fibre bundle but with a more in- the web sites www.bradshawfoun- catalogue, web and CDRom devel- treresting `base’ than a plain circle. dation.com, www.popmath.org.uk. opment. The last version of the Pop- The form was made by thread- math Site was further supported by ing matchboxes onto a wire trefoil The Bradshaw site shows also John’s a grant from EPSRC in 2002, and is knot. But only John could give the passionate interest in the develop- based on a CDRom produced under elegence and rhythm of line and ment of man, civilisation and art. an EC grant in World Mathematics form To this sculpture he has given The Popmath site started in 1996, Year 2000. John was also delight- the subtitle `Passing on the torch of and it was great to see how quickly ed that his sculpture ‘Prometheus’ life’. This John has surely done for John took to the use of computers, Hearth’ was donated to and gave us all. We shall surely miss his cre- and found the web gave freedom to the name to the Mathematics Centre ative force, kindness and generosity develop his accounts of his sculp- at the nearbye Frome Community of spirit. John died of lung cancer tures and life. John has been well College.

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