'Boolean Logic': in BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS: Contemporary art and mathematical data

Boolean Logic is a work exploring the relationship between entropy, tipping points, order and chaos by attempting to employ Boolean logic to building a structure. The sculpture, a seemingly chaotic structure, was built following 3 basic rules from salvaged timbers and mapped using a Venn diagram mapping each timber’s adherence to 3 basic conditions, timber touches easel, timber touches other timber, timber touches floor. The timbers were not allowed to touch the floor so any fallen or displaced timbers had to be rebalanced on the structure and all effected timbers mapped.

The work was commissioned for the show BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS: Contemporary art and mathematical data, at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery UCC, Cork curated by Fiona Kearney in association with the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, and George Boole 200, University College Cork. The show, celebrating the work and bicentenary of Cork based mathematician Boole whose logic gates are integral to modern computer programming, featured the work of artists: Darren Almond, Aram Bartholl, Mel Bochner, Hanne Darboven, John Gerrard, Sol LeWitt, Tatsuo Mijajima, Aisling O'Beirn, Matthew Ritchie and Lynne Woods Turner.All Galleries, 25 July - 8 November 2015 In 2015 UCC will commemorate the legacy of George Boole, the first Professor of Mathematics at what was then Queen's College Cork, now UCC, under the banner of George Boole 200. Through an extensive programme of events, the life and works of George Boole will be celebrated culminating with the establishment at the university of the George Boole legacy which will enable the ongoing celebration of George Boole and the long established tradition of world-class research in academic disciplines associated with him.As part of the George Boole 200 celebrations at University College Cork, the Lewis Glucksman Gallery will present BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS: Contemporary art and mathematical data, an exhibition that explores the ways in which artists use mathematical ideas and systems in their work. BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS will demonstrate the creative synergies between scientific and artistic thinking and invite audiences to explore mathematical concepts, the impact of big data on contemporary life, the ways in which systems and codes support creative production, and how artists have used logic and technology for their own artistic purposes.

The exhibition was opened by the film-maker David Puttnam who articulated his frustration at the ongoing need to emphasise links between science and art. The catalogue Boolean Expressions: Contemporary Art And Mathematical Data 2015, edited by Fiona Kearney with forward by Michael Murphy and essay by Brian Fay was produced as a record of the for the exhibition.