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In essence, mathematical forms are projected over fluid space to create distortions of our globe into the pyramid, the cube, and the dodecahedron (three polyhedral); the doughnut (tangent torus); the egg (sinusoidal ovoid); the snail (helical toroid); and the lemon (prolate ovoid). Additional forms are the hot dog and the geoid. … Knowledge must be reassessed to cope with the new concepts of probability and catastrophe theories, curved space, black holes, the uncertainty principle, and possible other universes.
… Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space--Map Projections is sculptured reality, based on the conflicting and interdependent elements of art and existence, illusion and reality, imagination and fact, chaos and order, irrationality and reason. [1]
As art historian Peter Selz points out, “distortion must result when three-dimensional information is placed on a two-dimensional plane.” For him, Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space--Map Projections “is a mathematically correct visual distortion of the globe. … This project prompted the artist to create a cycle of maps that combine scientific accuracy with artistic whimsy.” Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space—Map Projections: The Cube is part of a series in which she projects images of the globe over various shapes—pyramids, shells, doughnuts. The resulting distortions shift the way the viewer sees the world: continents become closer or further away, oceans widen or narrow. Denes has stated that “global consciousness” is the solution to the problems humans face, stressing the importance of “initiating meaningful communication between nations” and “developing more efficient technologies for more equitable distribution of food and wealth.” [2] Several versions of Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space—Map Projections: The Cube exist, including a 1978 drawing in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled Study of Distortions: Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space-Map Projections: The Cube, done in gouache and watercolor painted on graph paper overlaid by a pen-and-ink topographical drawing on mylar. The Metropolitan Museum also owns a signed trial proof of the 1986 lithograph owned by Reynolda House.
The composition features a three-quarter view of the globe arranged on a cube and seen from above. Clearly visible are the full side and top planes which display recognizable topographical views of the North and South American continents, the Arctic Circle, and the northernmost parts of Eurasia. The dusting of metallic inks on a dark background of colored mulberry paper is not only beautiful but also appropriate for this re-conceptualization of earth’s spatial dimensions, in this instance from sphere to cube. Denes may be alluding to photographic images of earth taken from space in which the developed continents are lit up by their megacities. It is perhaps a sobering reminder that what seems beautiful and magical is a result of light pollution and excessive population.
Robert Hobbs, art historian, and donor with Jean Crutchfield of this print to Reynolda House Museum of American Art explains that this project “dramatizes our ability to transform our world by changing our way of conceiving it.” [3] The image seems to capture wholly the achievement of Denes, who initially expressed herself as a poet only to lose her mother tongue when she moved to this country; she ultimately found self-expression through visualization of the universal languages of philosophy and mathematics.
Notes:
[1] Jill Hartz, Agnes Denes Exhibition catalogue. (Ithaca, NY: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 1992), 84.
[2] Peter Selz, “Agnes Denes: The Artist as Universalist,” in Agnes Denes, 152, and Agnes Denes, Book of Dust: The Beginning of the End of Time and Thereafter (Rochester, NY: Visual Studies Workshop, 1987), 168.
[3] Robert Hobbs, “Agnes Denes’s Environmental Projects and Installations: Sowing New Concepts,” in Agnes Denes, 167.
ProvenanceTo 2002
Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA [1]
From 2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield on December 27, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter, December 9, 2001, object file.
[2] Letter, December 27, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2008
New World Views: Gifts from Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (5/20/2008-8/31/2008)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space—Map Projections: The Cube
Artist
Agnes Denes
(born 1931)
Date1986
Mediumthree color, hand pulled lithograph with metallic dusting on Moriki
DimensionsFrame: 44 1/4 x 33 in. (112.4 x 83.8 cm)
Paper (uneven): 36 1/8 x 24 3/4 in. (91.8 x 62.9 cm)
SignedAgnes Denes '86
Credit LineGift of Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs in honor of Salem Neff
Copyright© Agnes Denes
Object number2002.6.4
DescriptionAgnes Denes has a fascination with mathematics, a fact vividly reflected in her 1973–1979 series Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space, which she explained:In essence, mathematical forms are projected over fluid space to create distortions of our globe into the pyramid, the cube, and the dodecahedron (three polyhedral); the doughnut (tangent torus); the egg (sinusoidal ovoid); the snail (helical toroid); and the lemon (prolate ovoid). Additional forms are the hot dog and the geoid. … Knowledge must be reassessed to cope with the new concepts of probability and catastrophe theories, curved space, black holes, the uncertainty principle, and possible other universes.
… Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space--Map Projections is sculptured reality, based on the conflicting and interdependent elements of art and existence, illusion and reality, imagination and fact, chaos and order, irrationality and reason. [1]
As art historian Peter Selz points out, “distortion must result when three-dimensional information is placed on a two-dimensional plane.” For him, Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space--Map Projections “is a mathematically correct visual distortion of the globe. … This project prompted the artist to create a cycle of maps that combine scientific accuracy with artistic whimsy.” Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space—Map Projections: The Cube is part of a series in which she projects images of the globe over various shapes—pyramids, shells, doughnuts. The resulting distortions shift the way the viewer sees the world: continents become closer or further away, oceans widen or narrow. Denes has stated that “global consciousness” is the solution to the problems humans face, stressing the importance of “initiating meaningful communication between nations” and “developing more efficient technologies for more equitable distribution of food and wealth.” [2] Several versions of Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space—Map Projections: The Cube exist, including a 1978 drawing in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled Study of Distortions: Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space-Map Projections: The Cube, done in gouache and watercolor painted on graph paper overlaid by a pen-and-ink topographical drawing on mylar. The Metropolitan Museum also owns a signed trial proof of the 1986 lithograph owned by Reynolda House.
The composition features a three-quarter view of the globe arranged on a cube and seen from above. Clearly visible are the full side and top planes which display recognizable topographical views of the North and South American continents, the Arctic Circle, and the northernmost parts of Eurasia. The dusting of metallic inks on a dark background of colored mulberry paper is not only beautiful but also appropriate for this re-conceptualization of earth’s spatial dimensions, in this instance from sphere to cube. Denes may be alluding to photographic images of earth taken from space in which the developed continents are lit up by their megacities. It is perhaps a sobering reminder that what seems beautiful and magical is a result of light pollution and excessive population.
Robert Hobbs, art historian, and donor with Jean Crutchfield of this print to Reynolda House Museum of American Art explains that this project “dramatizes our ability to transform our world by changing our way of conceiving it.” [3] The image seems to capture wholly the achievement of Denes, who initially expressed herself as a poet only to lose her mother tongue when she moved to this country; she ultimately found self-expression through visualization of the universal languages of philosophy and mathematics.
Notes:
[1] Jill Hartz, Agnes Denes Exhibition catalogue. (Ithaca, NY: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 1992), 84.
[2] Peter Selz, “Agnes Denes: The Artist as Universalist,” in Agnes Denes, 152, and Agnes Denes, Book of Dust: The Beginning of the End of Time and Thereafter (Rochester, NY: Visual Studies Workshop, 1987), 168.
[3] Robert Hobbs, “Agnes Denes’s Environmental Projects and Installations: Sowing New Concepts,” in Agnes Denes, 167.
ProvenanceTo 2002
Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA [1]
From 2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield on December 27, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter, December 9, 2001, object file.
[2] Letter, December 27, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2008
New World Views: Gifts from Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (5/20/2008-8/31/2008)
Published References
Status
Not on view