MCC Public Art 2
MCC Public Art 1
MCC Publci Art 3
MCC Public Art 4

Madeleine Chowdhury, Geoff Coppola & Robert Homes

Ceramics in Steel Frame

9.42 ft (2.87m) x 12.04 ft (3.67 m) x 0.25 ft (0.08 m)

 

Muse. Pause. Ask. "What is IT?"

{Symmetry} THis is the 5th art piece at MCC based on symmetry, typical of mosaics found in Spain and Iran. Repeating orderly patterns are classified as one of 17 plane crystallographic groups. Did you know the language of symetry, or group theory, emerged from an equation that couldn't be solved? Does IT have symmetries you recognize?

 

{Nobel-Worthy Quasicrystals} What floor-tile shapes cover a space without gaps? Squares, triangles, hexagons? Similarly, crystals are 3-D arrangements of atoms that repeat in orderly patterns, like cubes, 4-fold, or equilateral triangles, 3-fold. What n-fold symmetry do you observe in IT? 

 

In 2011, Dan Shectman recieved the Nobel prize in chemistry for his 1982 discovery that pentagonal symmetry exists in nature. No one imagined that the patterns could exist in nautre. This pattern was regular but never repeated again in the quasi-periodic crystal. Shectman braved relentless criticism for his unusual findings. He was called a "quasi-scientist" by colleagues. But Shechtman's work resulted in a paradigm shift. The 12-fold diffraction symetry, evident in IT, is rare but exists in nature. When the lighting is just right, you can observe a shadow of IT on the wall similar to an electron diffraction pattern from a metal alloy.

 

{STEAM} Is IT science, technology, engineering, art or math? All is One, One is All. {elements} symbolizes the dedication of the STEAM disciplines to creativityand innovation to enrich communities and individuals.

 

IT is {elements} --- AllisOneenOsillA

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