2012 Art Exhibition
At the conference, there will be an exhibition room of 2D and 3D mathematical art, ranging from computer graphics to quilts to geometrical sculptures. This art exhibition will be curated by Robert Fathauer. All submitted artwork will undergo a refereeing process. There is a limit of three submissions per artist. Images of accepted artworks will also be published in the conference CD and art catalog.
In addition to the traditional display of art during the Bridges Conference of July 25- 29, 2012, there will be a professional art gallery exhibit installed in the College of Fine Arts Gallery, directed by Professor Christopher Bartlett from the Art Department of Towson University. This art exhibit will open June 29 to the general public and remain on view through July 29. There will be published announcements and media releases to advertise the exhibition.
A new feature at this year's art exhibition will be "people's choice" awards. There will be four awards for artworks shown at Bridges 2012, as voted at the meeting by the attendees: Best of Show, Most Effective Use of Mathematics, Craftsmanship, and Innovation. All of the award winners will receive a complimentary copy of the art catalog, and the Best of Show winner will also receive a registration waiver for Bridges 2013.
Artworks to be displayed in the College of Fine Arts Gallery will need to be shipped to Towson University by June 15. They will be required to be presented in a manner that meets gallery standards. The two exhibits will be held in the same building in which the conference talks will be given. For the purpose of submitting and jurying of artworks, the two exhibits will be considered to be part of the Bridges 2012 Exhibition of Mathematical Art, subject to the limit of three artworks per artist.
The primary intent of the art exhibition is to foster active interaction between exhibiting artists and conference participants. Thus we expect all exhibitors to attend the conference and require them to register once they obtain the notification that their work has been accepted. Work of non-registered participants will not be exhibited and will not appear in the conference CD and art catalog. Submissions and questions related to the art exhibition should be addressed by e-mail to: Dr. Robert Fathauer, Tessellations Company, tessellations@cox.net.
When creating a submission, artists will have the opportunity to request that their work be included in the month-long exhibit. It may not be possible to honor all such requests. For the conference-only portion of the exhibition, please note that all the artworks should be hand delivered to the exhibition room at a time to be determined, usually the day before the conference starts. The exhibition participants are also responsible for picking up their works at the end of the conference. The artworks will not be insured while on display, so the artist assumes all risk for damage or theft.
The exhibition space will only accommodate a limited number of works, which may necessitate rejecting some high quality pieces. Review criteria include:
- Math content (This is a mathematically sophisticated audience.)
- Esthetic appeal (This is admittedly highly subjective.)
- Medium (A variety of media will make for a more dynamic exhibition.)
- Craftsmanship (The level of skill and effort that goes into making an effective presentation of the idea.)
For the month-long exhibit in the College of Fine Arts Gallery, there are no restrictions on the size of submitted artworks. However, for the traditional display of art during the conference, flat works will be limited in size to 24" x 36" (including frame), and 3-D works will be limited to 24" x 24" x 24".
Please note that the works should be presented in a manner that would be appropriate for a mainstream art gallery, to the extent possible given the realities of travel and shipping. This is to be contrasted to a poster session or technical illustration look, which most mathematicians are more accustomed to. For examples of the sort of works that are appropriate, see the recent art exhibitions from the Bridges Conference and Joint Mathematics Meetings, by clicking on Galleries in the menu at left.
Images of any submitted artwork and accompanying descriptive data and technical description (see below) should be submitted between February 15 and March 15, 2012. Notification of acceptance will be made via e-mail by April 15, 2012.