God Doesn't Play Dice

God Does Not Play Dice, God Is Dice

Mandelbrot Rock

JoAnne Growney was kind enough to send me this youtube link to a tune by fellow geek Jonathan Coulton

Torque In Poetry

In response to the blog entry at Ron Silliman’s blog which pointed to this blog entry by K. Silem Mohammad: Lime-Tree (click here)

I would like to contribute to this discussion on ‘torque in poetry’ by giving an example of how one may view the mechanics of torque within a poem. Furthermore, in particular, I will give an example using the Creeley poem previously discussed.

To understand the difference between torque and linear movement in a poem we should understand the difference between the components of the two within the context of a poem. Let me reiterate the interesting ideas that Silem Mohammad has brought forward in the blog entry referenced above.

The concepts in question are pulling, pushing, syncopation, and torque. First of all pushing and pulling are generally thought to be linear forces. (in a straight line) Force can also be used in torque as in pushing or pulling something perpendicular to an axis as in the example of pushing on a swinging door. Pure rhythmic (without glissando or modulation) syncopation seems to me to be a linear force due to the idea that we generally perceive time to be linear at least in an analytical sense. I believe syncopation in music or poetry can express torque with the additional use of pitch such as a talking drum or with synaesthetic visual imagery. I believe you may experience torque in Creeley’s poem due to the visual imagery associated with physical torque as in a car swerving to miss an object in the road:

“drive, he sd, for
christ's sake, look
out where yr going.”


To imply torque in the visual structure of the poem one has to imply force moving perpendicular to an axis. Like the twisting diagram above. So this brings us to the question: What is the axis and what is the force within the structural line-breaks of Creeley’s poem?

One way to visualize the torque within the structure of his poem is to notice that the movement in the line breaks creates a curve that our vision may follow. (See diagram above) It may not follow this exact curve but it must follow a curve if you are experiencing torque. There is an argument that your eyes follow a straight line to the next line. In that case you would experience a linear force not torque.

So let’s look at a curve connecting the lines in the above diagram. The red curve is an enlargement of the black curve in our diagram. Notice that the curve varies in curvature. The radius in the curvature is changing which means the torque is changing also. However, let’s freeze our eye movement for a moment and just look at one radius which is shown in the black circle that lays on the red curve. That radius is represented for a stopped moment in time at a certain place along the curve. This is the point where we can imagine that we can see the radius of curvature that our eyes follow in this poem. This radius is the “r” value in the equation for torque.

Now we must find the force and break it down so that we can see the components of force in the poem.

One of the ways physics describes force is that “force is equal to the change in momentum of an object per the change in time during the objects spatial movement”. (F = delta mv/delta t)


The Egg Toss Game

Many of us have experienced force when playing a particular egg toss game in which the goal is to have your partner throw you an egg and you catch it without breaking it. What you are doing in this game is change the momentum of the egg from its maximum speed when it is flying toward you, to a speed of zero when you slow its fall in the palm of your hand. Furthermore, the objective is to slow its fall over the greatest amount of time possible. Force is the change of momentum per the change in time in other words if you change the momentum of the egg in a short period of time the egg breaks because you created too much force on the egg. You created much more force than if you would have caught the egg over a longer period of time.

So how does all this relate to the poem?
The force involved in at the end of the line break is equivalent to the change in the flow (momentum) in the poem per the change in time as you read it. This idea is the “F” value in the torque equation.

Since force is the change in momentum per the change in time, let’s look at what ideas comprise the momentum at the end of the line break in this poem?

Let’s go back to physics and look at the definition of momentum. Momentum is the mass of an object multiplied by the velocity that the object is traveling.

What is the mass in the poem at the end of the line break?
I see the mass being static concept in the line’s subject. For instance “the darkness” in line five of the poem is the static concept.

What is the velocity?
I see the velocity caused by anticipatory interest we have in finding what the next line says. For example the line ending in the word ‘what’ is not resolved and we experience anticipation to resolve it. Our anticipation is what is moving in our mind until the idea is resolved at the next line. The velocity then slows down as our interest slows down. In other words the more anticipation we experience then the faster our need is to resolve the idea at the next line. Furthermore, the greater the change in the momentum of our interest then the more force we experience. The more force we experience then the more torque we will experience.

In conclusion:
If you want to describe torque in a poem then you must have a force moving on a radius about an axis. If you don’t have those elements present in the poem then you are experiencing linear force not torque.

Extremism

Here is a similar triangle poem concerned with extremism.

The Lotto

Here is a similar triangle poem concerned with playing the lottery.

Marko Niemi Critical Mass

Another animated mathematical visual poem by Marko Niemi

Marko Niemi Divine Intervention

Another animated mathematical visual poem by Marko Niemi

Marko Niemi Eye Of The Beholder

Here is another animated mathematical visual poem by Marko Niemi

Marko Niemi Party-NRJ

Here is a animated mathematical visual poem that Mark Niemi just sent me ... The equation above is the equation from physics describing energy. Marko has animated it to play with the textual meanings relative to its semantic meanings. Check it out

Quote From Samuel Johnson

I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

Delineations Between The Aesthetics Of Math And Art

This page is dedicated to collecting ideas that describe the differences in the aesthetics of math and art.*


I would like to invite discourse into the construction of these ideas. Everyone is invited to comment. Making these delineations is not an easy task and I feel the statements may evolve. I will address any comments to these statements.

I feel it is very important to understand the differences in the disciplines of art and math so that we can join them in the most creative, clear and meaningful ways.


Delineation #1:
Mathematical truths are discovered Artistic truths are mediated.

.
Delineation#2:
Mathematicians generally agree on what is mathematically correct. Artists generally have no idea what is artistically correct.

.

Delineation#3
Math illuminates the supportive skeletal structure of thought whereas Art illuminates the metaphoric wind, which blows through that structure.

.

Delineation#4
Science reveals the body of GGod and Art reveals GGod's mind -- or is it the converse?

.
Delineation#5
Pure Mathematics has no expression for poetic metaphor however; it does provide us a structure that can be used for it.

.

Delineation#6

In general, the mathematician is not interested in finding truths through nonsense as opposed to the artist who is.

.

Delineation#7

The goal of art is to go beyond language. Mathematics is a language to describe what is beyond us.

.

Delineation#8.
Artists have an insouciant tendency to get lost in their imagination Mathematicians have an attentive tendency to map their imagination

.

Delineation #9
A mathematical theory seems to come in a flash of intuition before the final product is rigorously constructed. An artistic theory seems to come much after the artwork that has been constructed in a flash of intuition.

Delineation #10

Mathematical creations are not unique in the sense that they could be discovered by anyone.
Artistic creations are uniquely invented by individuals.

Delineation #11
Mathematics, among other things, is a language.
Art, among other things, uses language.
.

Delineation#12
In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite. —Paul Dirac
.

Delineation #13
Art is the expression of culture.
Pure mathematics is independent of culture therefore, cultureless.



Some of these were published earlier in Bridges proceedings 2002 “Sentences on the Aesthetics of Mathematics and Art” page 256

Unlikely 2.0

Dog Dream

This is my first Korean artwork
Dog Dream = Irrationality / Importance

The poem is in the form of an orthogonal space poem


Check out the lastest Unlikely Stories. My latest two pieces are among some wonderful new art/poetry work.

Temptation At The Asymptote

I have a new piece titled “Temptation” (below)

As you look at the graph of Y=1/x (above) you will notice the values become extremely large as you approach the asymptote where the value of x equals zero. At x = zero the y value becomes infinite (at the asymptote).

We have the same situation when we approach temptation. It gets stronger and stronger as we get closer to the object of our temptation and when you touch your temptation you lose the game. In other words the shorter the distance to your object of temptation the closer you get to the asymptote.

The form of the poem is an orthogonal space poem

Temptation 2006 Kaz Maslanka

Bridges Reminder

Flaky Pie

This image came from the following link: Flaky Pie

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Here is my Christmas fractal I constructed for you.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year

Lothar Schmitz

Lothar Schmitz’ sculptures reconfigure and question corporate landscape elements using man-made materials. His topiary-like treatment of landscape alludes to the accelerating pace of ecological change and genetic mutation. He draws experience from both his art and physics background. Schmitz is a past Los Angeles Cultural Affairs COLA Individual Artist Grant recipient and a physicist.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTRARY TO THE LAWS OF NATURE
Los Angeles based artists stretch those laws and present some of their own.Mitchell Friedman, Manfred Menz, Lothar Schmitz, Carrie Ungerman and Melinda Smith Altshuler address social, environmental and psychological circumstance in the landscape. Exhibition Dates: December 21, 2006 - January 27, 2007Artist’s Reception: Thursday, December 21, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Sarah Lee Artworks & Projects
2525 Michigan Avenue (Bergamot Station), T1, Santa Monica, CA 90402
Media Contact: Melinda Smith Altshuler, 310 367.5246, msasees@yahoo.com
Gallery: 310 829.4938 E-mail, saralee4@verizon.net
Website: http://www.sarahleeartworks.com
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10:30 am- 5:30 pmPlease direct e-mail inquiries about the exhibition to the gallery’s address (above);

Celebrate The Tenth Annual Bridges Conference

Celebrate the Tenth Annual Bridges Conference

BRIDGES DONOSTIA

Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture

***************************************
**** http://www.bridgesmathart.org ****
***************************************

Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science
School of Architecture, The University of the Basque Country
San Sebastian (Donostia), Spain

July 24-27, 2007

The conference consists of a 4-day combination of Bridges Conference
activities (July 24, 26, and 27) and an excursion day to Bilbao (July
25). Please visit the Announcement page at the conference website for
a complete announcement.

THE CONFERENCE

The Bridges Conferences, running annually since 1998, bring together
practicing mathematicians, scientists, artists, educators, musicians,
writers, computer scientists, sculptors, dancers, weavers, model
builders in a lively atmosphere of exchange and mutual encouragement.

Important components of these conferences, in addition to formal
presentations, include hands-on workshops, gallery displays of visual
art, working sessions with artists who are crossing the
mathematics-arts boundaries, and musical/theatrical events in the
evening.

CALL FOR PAPERS

You are invited to submit either a short (two pages) or long (at most
eight pages) paper that presents new work within the scope of the
Bridges conference. Papers must be submitted as Microsoft Word or PDF
to papers@bridgesmathart.org. The deadline for paper submission is
Febrary 1, 2007. This deadline is firm! If electronic submission is
impossible, please contact Reza Sarhangi to make other arrangements.
Authors will be notified of acceptance on March 25, 2007, and final
papers will be due on April 23.

WORKSHOPS

There will be several teacher workshops for K-12 teachers and educators
at the 2007 Bridges Conference. If you are interested in making a
presentation in one of these workshops you need to submit either a
short (two page) or long (eight page) paper; The deadlines for
submissions of preliminary and final versions are the same as for the
contributed papers.

VISUAL ART EXHIBIT

At the conference, there will be an exhibition room for 2D and 3D
mathematical art, ranging from computer graphics to quilts to
geometrical sculptures. This art exhibit will be curated by Robert
Fathauer. All submitted artwork will undergo a refereeing process.
There is a limit of five submissions per artist. Images of accepted
artworks will also be published on the conference CD.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

There is a registration fee of US $180 that includes a copy of the
Proceedings. Extra proceedings will be available during the conference
with a price of US $50. There is a special discounted rate for
students, artists whose expenses are not otherwise supported, and K-12
teachers. Please visit the Registration page at the conference
website.

ACCOMMODATION AND FACILITIES

Participants have a choice of staying in the campus facilities
(comparable to a three star hotel and within walking distance of the
conference site) or staying in a nearby hotels (a list of hotels is
provided in the Accommodations section of the Bridges website).

MAILING LIST

You have received this message because you are subscribed to a mailing
list for Bridges-related announcements. If you would like to manage
your subscription, please visit the mailing list web page at
https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/bridges.

Anyone interested in joining the list may send email to
bridges-join@lists.uwaterloo.ca.

OTHER INQUIRIES

For any other information not available on the web page please
contact: Reza Sarhangi, Department of Mathematics, Towson University,
8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252, (410) 704-4922. rsarhangi@towson.edu.

Alligator Cubed

Climax 4 by Mirela Roznoveanu

Presently, Dan Waber has some interesting math-poetry related images on his Blog that I would like to draw to attention. There is an interesting series of works by Mirela Roznoveanu that I would like to note, have verbogeometric properties. Although the pieces are not explicitly mathematical (they do not show equations) they do show graphic ideas in space implicitly related to a Cartesian coordinate system.

Because they are so abstract they can have numerous contexts applied to them pointing to meanings just as numerous. The resultant aesthetic experience is a vector sum of all the contexts applied. Of course this is my personal take on this and I will certainly give you room to express your own viewpoint.

Alligator Cubed by Jeff Crouche

The other piece I want to point out is Jeff Crouche’s “Alligators cubed” This is a perfect example of visual mathematical poem. (a nice one at that)

and thanks to Marko Niemi for keeping me on my toes

Applications For Verbogeometry

Shown above is a three-dimensional verbogeometric polyhedral

Applications for Verbogeometry

Neal Goldman, a mathematician has come up with a single verbogeometric polytope to analyze huge amounts of data. Business week online has recently published an article talking about Goldman’s polytope and you can access this article here. I was proposing someone write a polytope poem in my blog entry on August 14, 2006. Goldman’s polytope is not a poem but it can be viewed as a hyper-dimensional verbogeometric structure.

I would like to present an excerpt from the article to arouse your curiosity:

How do you convert written words into math? Goldman says it takes a combination of algebra and geometry. Imagine an object floating in space that has an edge for every known scrap of information. It's called a polytope and it has near-infinite dimensions, almost impossible to conjure up in our earthbound minds. It contains every topic written about in the press. And every article that Inform processes becomes a single line within it. Each line has a series of relationships. A single article on Bordeaux wine, for example, turns up in the polytope near France, agriculture, wine, even alcoholism. In each case, Inform's algorithm calculates the relevance of one article to the next by measuring the angle between the two lines.

Here is the link to the original article from business week online