Quadrature #1

Dublin Core

Title

Quadrature #1

Subject

Public Art Sculpture-Mathematics Applied to Art

Description

Quadrature #1, 1977, Steel

Robert Engman (American)

Located at the T.G. Miller Plaza, the steel Quadrature#1 by Robert Engman (1927-) can be seen as soon as its enlarged red pyramid shape is noticed. Installed in 1977, this 30-ton abstract public sculpture is composed of four pieces and is supposed to be representative of an MRI machine.

Engman had taught sculpture at Penn after he was asked by renowned architect Louis Kahn, to direct the university’s sculpture program. While at Penn, Engman often worked with his students when he was creating his own projects. He was known to approach his sculptures without a plan of what they were to become. As a teacher, he instructed his students to develop projects in the same improvisational style as his own. In this way, he was able to encourage students to engage in the acts of invention and experimentation.

Having a keen interest in both the mathematics and art forms, he often concentrates on the inclusion of mathematical concepts within his works, which has attracted the attention of many scientists and mathematicians. Mathematical sculpture is in itself an interesting genre of public art and has a unique classification.

Engman was known for producing metal works of art that possessed smooth and metal surfaces. In addition to Engman, other sculpture artists have been known to incorporate and utilize math and its relationship to art,as there are many commonalities between art and math. For example, art and math both require spatial reasoning and spatial dimension analysis. Drawing and shape building are also essential to both fields, as well is the study of surfaces

Sculptures in this genre possess typically have been produced with mathematics playing a primary role in the artist's conception, design and development of the work. Furthermore, it is a type form that is respected within academic fields such as architectural design. Mathematics has always had a strong relationship with sculpture, but the relationship became more apparent and embraced by sculptors in the twentieth century and today. Technology and computer advances in our modern world have played a signicant role in enabling artists to utlize more complex concepts in their work.

Robert Engman was born in Massachusetts and earned his MFA in Painting at Yale University before becoming the co-chair of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, he lives in Haveford, Pennsylvania where he has his own studio.