Aisling O’Beirn: Quaternion Quest
Opening Reception Thursday 11 September, 6 – 8pm
In 1843 the Irish mathematician Hamilton had been long mulling over the problem of how to multiply in 3D space. Whilst walking from Dunsink Observatory to the Royal Irish Academy, in a moment of sudden realisation and lest he forget it, he inscribed the formula for Quaternion multiplication on Broom Bridge.
The artist describes this act of mathematical vandalism as having been first described to her by an old school friend (now a mathematician), in her search for Broom Bridge as a site of mathematical pilgrimage.
The equation formed a type of bridge in modern mathematics between algebra and geometry.
This installation and film is a quest to try to understand the equation and map that process.
With thanks to Prof Luke Drury, Dunsink Observatory, Dr. Fiacre O’ Caibre, NUI Manooth, Dr. Áine McManus & Dr. Peter Kootsookos.
The LAB Gallery, brought to you by Dublin City Council is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. This exhibition is also supported by RIAD, University of Ulster.
The LAB Gallery, Foley Street, Dublin 1 t 353 1 2225455 artsoffice@dublincity.ie
www.facebook.com/thelabgallerydublin www.thelab.ie www.aislingobeirn.com
Free events of talks, walks and family for mathematicians and non mathematicians alike workshops programme http://quaternionquest.eventbrite.ie
Aisling O’Beirn is based in Belfast, making work concerned with the politics of space for both gallery and site specific contexts. Recent work has been facilitated by dialogue with Armagh Observatory and Dunsink Observatory. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. She was one of the artists chosen for Northern Ireland’s first participation in the 51st Venice Biennale. She is a member of the group Centrifugal consisting of artists architects, theorists and curators from Zagreb Helsinki and Belfast, investigating the notion of periferality in a European context. She is also a cow founder of CROW (City Right of Way) organising monthly walks in Belfast. O’ Beirn is also an Associate Lecturer in Sculpture at the University of Ulster and is represented by The Third Space Gallery www.thethirdspacegallery.com
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