Location: Hamilton Hall Stairwell
Anatolius of Alexandria, 2008
Bryce Kanbara (Canadian, b. 1947) and Brian Kelly (Canadian)
Mixed media
The three-piece sculpture, which depicts third-century Greek mathematician Anatolius, hangs in the light well of McMaster’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
“The idea of the project was to try and reach out to the community, so we wanted to avoid internal artwork that only spoke to mathematicians,” said Bradd Hart, chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Hence the graffiti, which covers Anatolius’ toga, and shows math equations in a range of complexity.
Over a period of two years there was much collaboration between the faculty, the community and the artists. Handwritten samples from student notebooks were scanned and projected onto the sculpture so they could be replicated. The figure stood in a corner of the artists’ studio on James Street North in Hamilton for several months so professors could record their own mathematical equations on the figure.
“We liked the idea of including graffiti on the piece,” explained Kanbara. “And we liked the idea of having a human-centered sculpture in order to show math as being human centered instead of being abstract.”
Now completed and installed, the sculpture hangs in three parts at the top of the light well, with Anatolius being slightly larger than life size. A small globe hangs above Anatolius’ head representing the contributions of mathematics to astronomy and the origins of geometry. A cherub on a concrete beam just below the skylight appears to be drawing Anatolius upwards into the sky.
“It’s fanciful as well as being thought-provoking,” said Hart. “We hope it stimulates those who enter Hamilton Hall, whether they’re looking to find out more about mathematics, or whether they’re looking to do some mathematics of their own."
(Excerpted from McMaster University Press Release, 2008)
