Written by John Lounsbury
The subconscious intricacies of the human mind are vast beyond our current understanding. M.C. Escher is known as the mathematician’s (and hippie’s) favorite artist. But why? And was Escher, a man who claimed he knew no mathematics, really a mathematical genius?
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Escher used perspective to create images which defy logic, as in the set of stairs which lead in two directions from the right foreground corner: Going to the left the stairs continuously climb until they return to the same spot and, of course, going to the right descend continuously until the square is completed in the opposite direction.
In this lecture Roger Penrose and Jon Chapman not only show why Escher has won the artistic and mathematical hearts of mathematicians, but also why his art is inspiring both artists and mathematicians today, as captured in Jon’s brilliant updating of Escher’s ‘Picture Gallery’ to the mathematics building in Oxford.
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This is a repost of a Documentary of the Week from 22 March 2016.
