An evocative and richly illustrated exploration of modern art about black holes.Inescapable and mysterious, black holes have long captured the imagination of visual artists, even before their existence was first confirmed in 1971. In Conjuring the Void, Lynn Gamwell explores this fascinating intersection of art and science. Starting with a chronological description of key developments in the science of black holes, Gamwell builds a foundation for the reader through visualizations of black holes created by scientists, depicting how a black hole’s extreme gravity affects visible objects in its vicinity. From there, the book explores how artists have addressed the challenge of visualizing black holes by developing new methods of working with diverse materials, including a black paint that absorbs 99.96% of visible light.Gamwell looks at how certain themes within the science of black holes—nothingness, emptiness, darkness, void, silence—are prominent in traditional Eastern thought traditions as well as in modern abstract art. She also considers the work of contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Takashi Murakami, and Danh Vō, and discusses how they have explored these themes and more in their artworks. The book concludes with a look forward, describing dramatic developments in the imagery of black holes and their changing influence on visual culture.

This is a cultural history of mathematics and art, from antiquity to the present. Mathematicians and artists have long been on a quest to understand the physical world they see before them and the abstract objects they know by thought alone. Taking readers on a tour of the practice of mathematics and the philosophical ideas that drive the discipline, Lynn Gamwell points out the important ways mathematical concepts have been expressed by artists. Sumptuous illustrations of artworks and cogent math diagrams are featured in Gamwell's comprehensive exploration. Gamwell begins by describing mathematics from antiquity to the Enlightenment, including Greek, Islamic, and Asian mathematics. Then focusing on modern culture, Gamwell traces mathematicians' search for the foundations of their science, such as David Hilbert's conception of mathematics as an arrangement of meaning-free signs, as well as artists' search for the essence of their craft, such as Aleksandr Rodchenko's monochrome paintings.She shows that self-reflection is inherent to the practice of both modern mathematics and art, and that this introspection points to a deep resonance between the two fields: Kurt Godel posed questions about the nature of mathematics in the language of mathematics and Jasper Johns asked "What is art?" in the vocabulary of art. Throughout, Gamwell describes the personalities and cultural environments of a multitude of mathematicians and artists, from Gottlob Frege and Benoit Mandelbrot to Max Bill and Xu Bing. Mathematics and Art demonstrates how mathematical ideas are embodied in the visual arts and will enlighten all who are interested in the complex intellectual pursuits, personalities, and cultural settings that connect these vast disciplines.

An evocative and richly illustrated exploration of modern art about black holes.Inescapable and mysterious, black holes have long captured the imagination of visual artists, even before their existence was first confirmed in 1971. In Conjuring the Void, Lynn Gamwell explores this fascinating intersection of art and science. Starting with a chronological description of key developments in the science of black holes, Gamwell builds a foundation for the reader through visualizations of black holes created by scientists, depicting how a black hole’s extreme gravity affects visible objects in its vicinity. From there, the book explores how artists have addressed the challenge of visualizing black holes by developing new methods of working with diverse materials, including a black paint that absorbs 99.96% of visible light.Gamwell looks at how certain themes within the science of black holes—nothingness, emptiness, darkness, void, silence—are prominent in traditional Eastern thought traditions as well as in modern abstract art. She also considers the work of contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Takashi Murakami, and Danh Vō, and discusses how they have explored these themes and more in their artworks. The book concludes with a look forward, describing dramatic developments in the imagery of black holes and their changing influence on visual culture.

This is a cultural history of mathematics and art, from antiquity to the present. Mathematicians and artists have long been on a quest to understand the physical world they see before them and the abstract objects they know by thought alone. Taking readers on a tour of the practice of mathematics and the philosophical ideas that drive the discipline, Lynn Gamwell points out the important ways mathematical concepts have been expressed by artists. Sumptuous illustrations of artworks and cogent math diagrams are featured in Gamwell's comprehensive exploration. Gamwell begins by describing mathematics from antiquity to the Enlightenment, including Greek, Islamic, and Asian mathematics. Then focusing on modern culture, Gamwell traces mathematicians' search for the foundations of their science, such as David Hilbert's conception of mathematics as an arrangement of meaning-free signs, as well as artists' search for the essence of their craft, such as Aleksandr Rodchenko's monochrome paintings.She shows that self-reflection is inherent to the practice of both modern mathematics and art, and that this introspection points to a deep resonance between the two fields: Kurt Godel posed questions about the nature of mathematics in the language of mathematics and Jasper Johns asked "What is art?" in the vocabulary of art. Throughout, Gamwell describes the personalities and cultural environments of a multitude of mathematicians and artists, from Gottlob Frege and Benoit Mandelbrot to Max Bill and Xu Bing. Mathematics and Art demonstrates how mathematical ideas are embodied in the visual arts and will enlighten all who are interested in the complex intellectual pursuits, personalities, and cultural settings that connect these vast disciplines.