Superimposed Lorenz Knots

MICHAEL WHITTLE

Drawing | 2017 

 

The discovery of Lorenz knots provided a surprising connection between two very different fields of study: chaos theory, with its strange attractors, and knot theory, which is an attempt to analyze and classify all possible ‘closed knots’. Lorenz found that his elegant, 2-winged orbital systems were extremely sensitive to initial conditions, a phenomenon now known as deterministic chaos or the ‘butterfly effect’. From order arises chaos, and two of these intricate Lorenz knots, with identical starting conditions but slightly different outcomes, are drawn here superimposed, as fragile, intertwining structures.

 

Size

32 x 40 inches - Framed

 

Materials


Ink, pencil and watercolour on paper

 

Authenticity

Hand signed by the artist

Superimposed Lorenz Knots

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MICHAEL WHITTLE

Drawing | 2017 

 

The discovery of Lorenz knots provided a surprising connection between two very different fields of study: chaos theory, with its strange attractors, and knot theory, which is an attempt to analyze and classify all possible ‘closed knots’. Lorenz found that his elegant, 2-winged orbital systems were extremely sensitive to initial conditions, a phenomenon now known as deterministic chaos or the ‘butterfly effect’. From order arises chaos, and two of these intricate Lorenz knots, with identical starting conditions but slightly different outcomes, are drawn here superimposed, as fragile, intertwining structures.

 

Size

32 x 40 inches - Framed

 

Materials


Ink, pencil and watercolour on paper

 

Authenticity

Hand signed by the artist

Behind the Scenes

Michael Whittle

Hong Kong
PAINTING
MIXED MEDIA

What if the solution to a puzzle you’d been struggling to solve ended up being the METHOD you were using to solve it? Sounds strange, but that’s exactly how English artist and researcher Michael Whittle came up with the idea for his award-winning 2015 PhD thesis, which has since been downloaded more than 58,000 times in 25 different countries. After receiving his MA from London's Royal College of Art...