Euclidean Air: Merging Geometry and Aerial Artistry
Euclidean Air has been one of the most exciting and intellectually stimulating projects I’ve worked on. This conceptual collaboration with an aerial artist explores the relationship between geometric form and aerial dance, drawing inspiration from Oliver Byrne’s 1847 Pickering edition of The Elements of Euclid.
How It All Began
I’ll never forget the day Elizabeth walked into my studio at Western Ave, holding this massive book. Her eyes lit up as she shared her vision for bringing Byrne’s work to life. I was immediately intrigued. We had an amazing conversation about how we could blend the human element with the geometric beauty of Byrne’s designs, sparking the idea that would become Euclidean Air.
About Oliver Byrne
Oliver Byrne (1810–1880) was an innovative 19th-century mathematician and engineer, best known for his colorful and visual approach to teaching geometry. His most notable work, The First Six Books of The Elements of Euclid (1847), presented Euclidean geometry in a revolutionary way, using vivid primary colors to represent shapes and lines. This visual approach made complex mathematical ideas more accessible and bridged the gap between art and mathematics. Byrne’s use of color and design in education was ahead of its time, and his work remains a unique contribution to both fields. Byrne’s method, though initially dismissed as an educational tool, gained recognition for its aesthetic beauty and later influenced movements like Bauhaus, Kandinsky, and Mondrian. His striking use of red, blue, and yellow to illustrate geometric concepts felt like the perfect complement to the elegance of aerial dance, highlighting the hidden connections between mathematics and human form.
Bringing our Vision to Life
Elizabeth had already composed brilliant costume. She wore a blue leotard with red high stockings on one leg and a blue fabric strip on the other. She wrapped the aerial hoop in yellow and red tape, mirroring the bold primary colors in Byrne’s book. This attention to color and form was key to making the concept come to life.
I knew I wanted to capture the clean, even lighting Byrne used to present his geometric forms. We spent hours refining the shots, ensuring the lighting and Elizabeth’s movements aligned with the mathematical precision we wanted to evoke. The resulting images were captivating—her graceful aerial movements framed by the bold shapes and colors brought Byrne’s vision to life in a completely new way.
The project turned out even better than I had imagined. We seamlessly merged the elegance of aerial dance with the mathematical precision of Euclidean geometry. The human form, suspended mid-air in perfect harmony with geometric shapes, revealed the beauty and complexity of both disciplines. I felt we had uncovered something truly unique—a new way of seeing both art and mathematics.
Sharing Our Vision
After the photoshoot, we were eager to share our work. We were thrilled to have Euclidean Air displayed at Gallery Z in downtown Lowell, where it received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The striking imagery and underlying concept sparked conversations about the connection between art, geometry, and movement.
This is just the beginning. Elizabeth and I are already planning to expand the project, with a special focus on bringing Euclidean Air to schools. We believe this concept can help people, especially students, see math differently—not just as numbers and formulas, but as a beautiful force that exists in everyday life. The journey with Euclidean Air has only just begun and I’m excited to see how it evolves. There’s so much more to explore in the connection between geometry and art, and I can’t wait to continue sharing this vision.