"Pose Please"
Transfer monoprint on paper, 2016
by
Alan Singer,
Rochester, New York
By now everyone has heard of STEM educational goals ( in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math ), but I am here to advocate for STEAM. We must add Arts to STEM programs for the good of our children, and our country. One of my neighbors in my studio building has a sign that reads: "EARTH Without Art is just EH", and I couldn't agree more.
Artists have to be more inclusive and look down the road to include STEAM programs in their thinking too. We have to support each other, but also the significance of the STEAM goals will prepare us for the coming years and decades which may prove to be a real test under our new administration. All of us have to be ready to stand up for our rights as citizens, and for artists of all stripes - we want to be included in the debates to come ( in an out of the media ). As artists, we have to sharpen our reasoning and not get trampled in the give and take that is sure to be on the menu.
"Spinner"
Transfer monoprint on paper, 2015
by
Alan Singer
In my own artwork, I see the possibilities that are meant to open new avenues of conversation especially where the STEAM goals are relevant. My new art (above) demonstrates the facts that an artist needs an open mind when it comes to the significance of science, math, and engineering - even if we don't practice these skills everyday for ourselves.
Maybe my background provides a unique window into incorporating STEAM subjects that have often been overlooked by many when it comes to creating art. For many years in New York City I managed a livelihood creating images for publishers on assignment based on science. I created the illustrations for textbooks on biology, on geology, and also a very popular book on growing houseplants. Both of my parents were artists, and my brother, Paul is a graphic designer. My family encouraged my pursuits in art and I in turn worked with each of them on projects that were eventually published. I am doing that again by being co-author with my brother on a forthcoming book about my father, Arthur Singer, the master wildlife artist.
9th Anniversary Issue with my cover story
written by Rebecca Rafferty
I turned to paintings and prints that celebrate the possibilities that are open to an artist using software to create imagery that renders mathematical constructs in a visual way. This story is told in a recent interview by Rebecca Rafferty published in the new, 9th Anniversary issue of ARTVOICES, published by Terrence Sanders in Los Angeles. If you want to read the interview, check out this link:http://www.artvoicesmagazine.com
For the past ten years or so my artwork has incorporated imagery rendered in part by using programs such as Cinderella, 3D-Xplormath, and K- 3D-Surf. What these programs do for the artists like myself is to suggest ways of constructing geometry that can be used in printmaking and painting ( and probably so much more..). What I like about these programs ( aside from the fact that you download them for free ) is that they allow you to construct forms that you want using measurements and functions like sine and cosine, like square root and tangent and you can provide detailed parameters to make the image that you have in your imagination.
Transfer monoprint on paper, 2016,
by
Alan Singer
At this stage I have created hundreds, maybe thousands of images using mathematical functions and these forms have populated my art, and I continue to find this method very engaging.
The readers of this blog should know that there are other artists like me who incorporate mathematical concepts in their artwork. I myself have been influenced by Sol Lewitt and I also found the exhibition that just opened here on M.C. Escher to be very relevant to my subject and plea for STREAM as an education model.
