When maths turn into art

At the Institut Henri Poincaré, the exhibition "Esthétopies, variétés d'espaces sensibles" (esthetopies, varieties of sensitive spaces) has the ambitious goal of sharing the fascinating beauty of non-Euclidian geometry with the general public.
This project originated from the initiative of Pierre Berger, a former student of Decorative Arts, now a mathematician specialising in three-dimension spaces. Inspired as much by Man Ray's writings as by the work of William Thurston, he designed a series of computer-generated paintings based on algorithms he had created, which he then exhibited on the walls of the Institute's library.
The result has everything from an exhibition of contemporary art with these sober and hypnotic geometric shapes, accompanied by a chaotic soundtrack composed of familiar sounds of the library (step noises, ventilation, etc.). They have been modified by computer, and are therefore impossible to identify. They contribute to a sense of distorted reality and reinforce the visitor's immersion in this unknown and bewitching universe.