Press Release: Mathematics Peep Show

Mathematics Peep Show
Sundays, March 10 & 24, 2 pm

The Exploratorium’s Mathematics Film Series continues in March with mostly animation that brings mathematics to life using everything from Donald Duck to music by Elmer Bernstein. All films are included in the price of admission.

The program for March is as follows:

Sunday, March 10, 2002
Animation Nostalgia and Mathematics
Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land and the Eames’ Mathematical Peep Shows
McBean Theater, 2:00pm

In Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land (1959, 25 mins.) Donald Duck discovers the fascinating world of math, including the pentagram, the golden rectangle, and the spiral. Viewers see how mathematical principals influence science, art, music, architecture, and even sports in an original 16mm film print.

Charles and Ray Eames created a series of 2 minute animated shorts that explore mathematical principals such as topology, symmetry, functions, and numbers squared. Mathematical Peep Shows (1961, 10 minutes) were made for the original Mathematica: A World of Numbers…and Beyond exhibition, created for IBM, and includes music by Elmer Bernstein and animation by Glen Fleck.

Rythmetic (1956, 8 mins.) is an animated film by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart that endows arithmetic with lively humor. The screen becomes a numerical free for all as digits meet in playful encounters, add and subtract, jostle, attack, and elude one another.

Sunday, March 24, 2002
Films: Adventure in Perception and other short films including Fetch by Nina Paley
McBean Theater, 2:00pm

Adventures in Perception (1979, 26 min.) is an introduction to the surreal world of M.C. Escher and his ingenious play with geometric shapes, interlocking patterns, false perspectives, convex/concave shapes, morphing forms, figure/ground reversals and illusions within illusions. Escher, the master craftsman, appears in the film carving an intricate braid of twisting serpents.

Fetch (2001, 5 mins.) by Bay Area animator Nina Paley is a funny and kinetic exploration of space, involving an animated dog chasing a ball. Music by Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble.

Eights (1993, 5 mins.) by Seth Olitzky creates colorful kaleidoscopic imagery and explores illusions of three dimension. Olitzky’s work explores the beauty of geometry, symmetry and abstract form.

The Exploratorium is located inside the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco's Marina District. Museum admission is as follows: Members FREE; Adults (18-64) $10.00; University Students (with ID) $7.50; Senior citizens (65+) $7.50; People with disabilities $6.00; Youth (5-17) $6.00; Children Under 4 FREE. First Wednesdays of the month FREE. The Exploratorium's winter hours, from Labor Day through Memorial Day, are TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 10amÐ5pm (WEDNESDAYS UNTIL 9:00pm), CLOSED MONDAYS, except for most holidays. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Exploratorium is open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, from 10am-6pm (Wednesdays until 9pm). The Exploratorium is wheelchair accessible. For information, call(415) EXP-LORE.