Almost two years ago, Spanish filmmaker Cristóbal Vila shot an exquisite little film, Nature by Numbers, which captured the ways in which mathematical concepts (Fibonacci Sequence, Golden Number, etc.) reveal themselves in nature. And the short then clocked a good 2.1 million views on YouTube alone.
This week, Vila returns with a new film called Inspirations. In this case, the inspiration is M.C. Escher (1898-1972), the Dutch artist who explored a wide range of mathematical ideas with his woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Although Escher had no formal training in mathematics beyond secondary school, many mathematicians counted themselves as admirers of his work. (Visit this online gallery to get better acquainted with Escher’s art, and be sure to click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images). As Vila explains, Inspirations tries to imagine Escher’s workplace, “what things would surround an artist like him, so deeply interested in science in general and mathematics in particular.” It’s a three minutes of unbridled imagination.
Awesome…. brilliant, a remarkable visual feast. Thank you
“Inspirations” is superb. Your animation is spellbinding. The lizard snorting made me laugh with delight.
Wonderful choice of music – it fits my image of Escher and his work.
Thank you SO MUCH for such a loving tribute.
Somewhere Maurits is smiling I’m sure.
Without knowing about Escher this video is really great, knowing about him makes the video even better.
I really enjoy the crocodile part!
This is simply marvelous. The quality and immaganation is top notch! I have never seen anything quite like this.