Issue 31: Art of Mathematics

Taken from Issue 31 of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) Primary magazine, the Art of Mathematics focuses on Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian painter and architect. His buildings are colourful and rounded, trees are extremely tall, everything is inaccurate. He disliked edges and straight lines, so everything is rounded, wavy and different, as were his spirals which became an enduring feature of his work these aspects are developed into teaching activities throughout the article.

Teaching activity 1
Hundertwasser's style of painting provokes discussion centering on colours, shapes, spirals, lines and concentric shapes which form the basis of the first of the teaching activities. In this activity students are encouraged to experiment with bold colours and 'near rectangles' with curved edges to produce a piece of work in the style of Hundertwasser. There are opportunities in this activity to develop visualising skills, mathematical terminology and an understanding of the properties of shapes.

Teaching activity 2
In the second teaching activity, students are asked to create a three-dimensional Hundertwasser object by drawing a simple image such as a house on card, cutting it out and using it as a template to draw another outline 0.5 cm outside. The process should be repeated until there are at least three pieces. These concentric shapes can be stuck together to form a three-dimensional object. Students could experiment with other concentric shapes and centres of enlargement when placing them together.

Teaching activity 3
One of Hundertwasser’s signature shapes was the spiral. Spirals could be painted in different shades as the arm(s) extend out from the centre, the different shades are obtained by mixing paints in particular ratios. Volume, mass and number sequences can all be developed through this activity.

Teaching activity 4
In the fourth activity, geometric shapes, straight lines, careful measuring and concentric shapes are all used to build up a picture around the shape using equidistant straight lines to reinforce the properties of the shape.