Arithmos

Opening tomorrow, Sunday, October 6, at 1:30 slt, is a new full-sim installation at LEA17 by Giovanna Cerise, Arithmos, which she describes as "fascination and illusion in balance between rationality and irrationality." The word "arithmos" is Greek for "number," and the build certainly seems to suggest some mathematical gestures—Giovanna tells me that top area was inspired by the golden ratio (that is, a+b is to a as a is to b), and that the area with sticks and balls makes reference to the Fibonacci series (in which the first two numbers are 0 and 1, and each number that follows is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on). "I am passionate about mathematics," says the artist.

The installation comprises thousands of lines and shapes, most of which are semi-transparent, making it possible to see a great deal of the sim all at once. From different vantage points the experience changes considerably, with elements working against and with one another. Somehow at work here is also Giovanna's interest in the human interplay with numbers. "I think that people sometimes give too much importance to numbers, quantity, and make their lives depend on them," she tells me. "They seek of securities in numbers, but it is only an illusion. Security does not exist." Perhaps that in part explains the dice present in the installation (lower image—zoom in on any for detail). The sim itself bears the name "Numbers: from zero to infinity," and Giovanna tells me that Arithmos is only the "first part of the project," which will include demonstrations and events.