Hiroshi Sugimoto: Mathematical Forms

In this series, Hiroshi Sugimoto again brings his interest in mathematics and science into the visual realm. “Art resides even in things with no artistic intentions,” Sugimoto has commented. Here, the artist has photographed a series of mathematical models, all of which are sculptural renderings of trigonometric functions. Fabricated in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they are now owned by the University of Tokyo.

A black and white photograph of a conical shape, starkly lit
Black-and-white photograph of a cylinder with an inset spiralling ramp
Black-and-white photograph of an organic spiralling form like the inside core of a seashell
Black-and-white photograph of a helical twist of two touching strands
A black and white photograph of a twisted shape around a pillar, starkly lit from the left
A black and white photograph of an hourglass shaped sculpture, starkly lit
A black and white photograph of a twisted sculpture, starkly lit from the right
Black and white photograph of an hourglass shaped form with black background
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Color image of a folding screen with an image of a shore with large rock formations mounted onto the screen

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Black-and-white photograph of an empty theater with a glowing white screen onstage

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Black and white photograph of the horizon with equal parts sky and sea

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