Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space-Map Projections: The Doughnut (tangent torus)

Agnes Denes American, born Hungary

1980

Not on view

Science helps us make sense of the world, but the world does not always fit into the framework that science provides. Errors, discrepancies, and even absurdities can result when a system meets an object. In this work, Denes maps the earth onto a mathematical form: a doughnut.

In reimagining the globe’s spatial coordinates, she also deforms them, and as the planet bends to a new illogical logic, it loses its familiar legibility, devolving into visual chaos. "Map Projections," Denes wrote in 1976, is "based on the conflicting and interdependent elements of . . . irrationality and reason."

Artwork Details

Title: Isometric Systems in Isotropic Space-Map Projections: The Doughnut (tangent torus)
Artist: Agnes Denes (American, born Budapest, 1931)
Date: 1980
Medium: Pen and black ink, watercolor and metallic paint on mylar and paper
Dimensions: 17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Van Day Truex Fund, 2001
Object Number: 2001.434.6
Rights and Reproduction: © Agnes Denes
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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The Human Argument, Agnes Denes American, born Hungary, Pen and black ink on graph paper — The Human Argument
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