A spaceship from the mathematical building blocks of quantum mechanics - spherical harmonic functions!
This artwork has been created in a multi-step process, and AI has not been involved:
Each individual spaceship is drawn with hand-crafted computer code, based on the mathematical functions used in theoretical physics. A spherical harmonic function is defined by a value for each combination of "longitude" and "latitude" on the surface of a sphere. It is a surface with many "lobes". I am visualizing this surface by code-drawing lines on it, and I am actually lots of these surfaces to fill the bulk of the shape. I am using the 3D framework threejs to render these structures as objects in space, allowing me to view them from different perspectives.
In a separate - completely manual - step I am using several of the code-generated images to compose a collage, defying the laws of perspective. Smaller spaceships - farther away in my virtual cosmos - are placed closer to the viewer.
Creating this I have had my own office and desktop setup in mind: I would be happy if other tech experts, scientists, or engineers would also find joy, looking at my artworks displayed on the wall of their gaming caves or work spaces!
Elke Stangl (elkement) (she/her) is an Austrian physics PhD working as an engineer. Her mathematical art is borne out of her life-long passion for the theoretical underpinnings of her craft. She is creating virtual three-dimensional structures from mathematical functions – digitally with code or with ruler and compass, using.. Read more…