Travel

NEW GEOMETRY FINDS TO VISIT NOW

Matthew Paulson. Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Florida.

What luck! Incredible new discoveries found just recently of beautiful geometrically inspired architecture (yup! new ancient pyramids to see!). And new exhibitions just opened so you can visit Beautiful Geometry right now!

DALI MUSEUM WARHOL EXHIBIT

The beautiful geometrically inspired Dali Museum in St. Petersburgh, FL, which opened just 3 years ago, is now, for the first time, holding an exhibition of another artist’s work. "Warhol: Art. Fame. Mortality" is a big show, with 125 paintings, drawings, prints and photographs Andy Warhol.

Pop Art, the genre that was essentially defined by Warhol, is, by nature, very much focused on geometric shapes and forms. Warhol’s use of packaging, such as soup cans and shipping cartons, as subject matter, are full of beautiful flat geometric shapes.

Dalí's special exhibitions curator, William Jeffett, borrowed a group of works from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh for the show.

EGYPTIAN PYRAMID

Geometric history has been made again with the new discovery of a ancient pyramid in Egypt. The announcement came just last week. Archaeologists working near the ancient settlement of Edfu, in southern Egypt, have uncovered a step pyramid that dates back about 4,600 years, predating the Great Pyramid of Giza by at least a few decades.

It is estimated that the pyramid stood as high as 43 feet. Over time, some of the step pyramid's stone blocks were stolen. And weather took its toll. So it now stands only about 16 feet tall.

This newly discovered geometric treasure is one of seven "provincial" pyramids built by either the pharaoh Huni (reign ca. 2635-2610 B.C.) or Snefru (reign ca. 2610-2590 B.C.). The provincial pyramids, mostly found in central and southern Egypt, are located near major settlements, have no internal chambers and were not intended for burial. Their dimensions are almost all identical, 60 × 61 feet.

The purpose of these seven pyramids is a mystery.

Initial results of the excavation were presented at a symposium held in Toronto recently by the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities.

Though scholars knew of the existence of the pyramid at Edfu, the structure had never been excavated before Marouard's team started work in 2010.

Check out more photos of the Newly Uncovered Step Pyramid. And there will, of course be more to come.

MEXICAN PYRAMID

Here’s another super-exciting new geometry find: Another newly discovered pyramid!

Just a few months ago,construction work in Jaltipan, southeast of Veracruz, in eastern Mexico, exposed an ancient settlement, including 30 skeletons and the ruins of a pyramid, believed to be up to 2,000 years old.

Clay figurines, jade beads, mirrors and animal remains, were also among the buried treasures, according to the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH).

The artifacts found at the site represent more than one culture. Some figurines and brickwork look Mayan. Some pottery that looks like it came from ancient city of Teotihuacan, according to archeologists.

The pyramid found on a hill near the burials is made of stone slabs and stretches 39 feet (12 meters) tall and looks Mayan or Tajin in style.

KYUSHU GEIBUNKAN MUSEUM

Cutting edge Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, recently unveiled a faboulous geometric-inspired building, the recently opened Kyushu Geibunkan museum in Fukuoka, Japan.

"Kyushu Geibunkan (annex 2)" is a modular wooden shelter that provides outdoor space for working and experimenting with pottery. The pavilion's roof is a cloud cluster of inverted triangles, which can expand and contract to control the amount of light and air entering the pavillion.

The pavillion is made from local cedar wood and recycled chip wood, and it is assembled without the use of screws or glue.

DIGITAL GEOMETRICS

Geometry is a natural component of digital art. Digital Geometrics is a wonderful new show featuring digital artists including Vlatko Ceric, Elle Schuster, James Allumbaugh, Paul Abbott, Tim Bolt, Lane Banks, Henry Biber, Rich Morgan, John Holt Smith, and Sevan Melikyan, and me, Alan Engisch.

Vlatko Ceric is digital art pioneer. He created his own code since before computers could do graphics. His geometric compositions are made up of small energetic squares. Elle Schuster takes geometry in a different direction with gorgeous fractals.

Check out John Holt Smith’s geometric extrapolations. Check out Paul Abbott’s trippy geometric worlds. And Tim Bolt’s myriads of interlocking squares we can see things in.

THE EXPLORATORIUM’S GEOMETRY PLAYGROUND PROJECT

Geometry Playground is a project of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Its largest product, four years in the making, is a major traveling exhibition that encourages visitors to use spatial reasoning.

Filled with things to climb and more to observe, kids get to experience geometry in ways they never could before. It’s a delight to watch them play and grow with it.

The Exploratorium’s Geometry Playground team partnered with several science centers across the country to strategize the development and installation of large-scale math exhibits at those museums, with support from the project’s National Science Foundation grant.

Check out their website for an installation near you.