Timo Andres and Philip Glass

Composer and pianist Timo Andres performed Etude No. 16 by Philip Glass at a Sunday Concerts performance in January. See this post for a video of Mr. Andres playing the Impromptus of Franz Schubert, which he paired with new Etudes by Glass in the same performance.

Style Profile: Joel Ulmer

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Photos: Josh Navarro

Whether it was handed down to him or purchased online, Joel dresses for look and comfort.

Josh Navarro: How would you describe your style?

Joel Ulmer: I like to keep it simple, not too many colors, not too little color. I aim for an urban, domesticated type of look.

JN: What are your favorite shops around the city and online?

JU: I have tons of favorite places to shop. I don’t discriminate. If I see something that’s looks cool, I’ll get it. Usually, I am combining different brands together for an outfit. But the front runners are thrift stores, H&M, Forever 21, Jack Threads, and eBay.

JN: What brands are you wearing in these photos?

JU: My glasses are an unknown brand that was bought on eBay. My jacket is originally from Forever 21, my shirt is Kenneth Cole, and my tie was given to me by my dad. There’s no label on it so I’m not sure what brand it is, but I do know that it’s definitely from the late ’80s. My belt is Rugby, shoes are Cole Hann, and my pants are Levi’s.

Can You See Infinity?

Hiroshi Sugimoto, one of Japan’s preeminent contemporary artists,  presents the Duncan Phillips Lecture this Thursday. In anticipation, Marketing Intern Annie Dolan considers two works from the artist’s exhibition currently on view at the Phillips.

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Hiroshi Sugimoto’s sculpture Surface of Revolution with Constant Negative Curvature (Mathematical Model 009) (2006) in front of his similar 2D work, Surface of Revolution with Constant Negative Curvature (Conceptual Form 0010) (2004)

Hiroshi Sugimoto’s sculpture Surface of Revolution with Constant Negative Curvature (Mathematical Model 009), pictured above, aesthetically conceptualizes the indescribable phenomenon of infinity. Even mathematicians accept the enigma of the infinity concept, something that can grow so large that it never truly ends. Sugimoto’s upward-extending sculpture made of reflective aluminum may physically end, but the contour lines creating the edges of the surface don’t appear to converge to a point, and instead look as if they’re disappearing into thin air. We are meant to believe that these lines can continue forever without ever touching.

Such a concept is perhaps more easily understood in two-dimensional form. On a gallery wall nearby this sculpture is a black and white monochrome photo that the artist took. The same conical shape is featured, but the lines that extend three-dimensionally into thin air are shown cropped at the top border of the photograph. This cropping indicates more obviously that these lines can truly extend without end, and that the zoomed-in image of the sculpture is part of a much larger object.

When approached in this light, we can also find infinity among less abstract art forms. In a way, the cropped image that we see on the wall of a gallery is only a part of a larger scene. We could think of every landscape, still life, or portrait as existing in real, infinite space. While we might not be able to see such an infinity, we know that it is there. By prompting such conversations, Sugimoto connects the ideas of art and mathematics that might not seem so obvious. Infinity is therefore found in many art forms, and can, despite popular belief, be visualized.

Annie Dolan, Marketing and Communications Intern