Today's Featured Biography

 
Ronald Brown

Being the lazy guy I am, I've kept this bio in the third person. It pretty much matches what is on my artist website.

Ron has a BA degree in mathematics, magna cum laude (William Jewell College, Liberty, MO), an MA degree in mathematics (University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS) and an M Ed degree (Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ).

Soon after receiving his masters degree in mathematics Ron served two years in India (Andhra Pradesh, 1969 - 1970) as a Peace Corps volunteer helping conduct science teacher workshops to high school science teachers. His interest in education motivated him to obtain an education degree and he was a teacher at an experimental 'alternative' school consisting of Philadelphia, Radnor and Lower Merion students and teachers for over six years.

For nearly thirty years he has been a software engineer. For many years he has been fascinated by the complex patterns and structures that can evolve from a simple knight moving on a chessboard. Recently, he has begun to explore the possibilities that the puzzle, Sudoku, can provide as well as Bingo and scanned barcodes. His artistic expressions are, in essence, the result of numerical conversions. One can view/purchase his artistic explorations at http://ron-brown.artistwebsites.com

For the last two years he has been a math tutor at Bucks County Community College.

He has been a presenter at several conferences dealing with the interdisciplinary approach to learning integrating art, math, science and technology. His ideas have appeared in several publications and in books by Dr. Clifford A. Pickover. In 1992, Leonardo - The Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology was the first to publish his ideas. In 1995 he was one of over 40 artists featured in a videotape produced by the late sculptor, Rob Fisher, entitled 'The Computer: A Tool for Sculptors'.

Over the years he has expanded his explorations of knight moves to include music, weaving and Islamic-style tiling patterns. His mind is full of ideas - of mammoth constructions, the use of lasers and computer-controlled sculptures utilizing motors, and more. Recently, he has begun to augment his explorations by utilizing the computer programming language, Processing, developed at MIT specifically for artists. He believes Processing is a great tool for adding the 'Arts' to STEM to obtain STEAM. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math

On June 22, he was a presenter at a STEM to STEAM conference in Baltimore where he talked about a computer programming course he taught at Tinicum Art and Science HS, a nearby independent Buddhist high school. His presentation can be viewed at www.innovateourworld.org/conference.htm . Scroll mid-page and click on 'Programming with Processing ...' All the images were created by the students.

In January or February, 2013 the front cover of The College Mathematics Journal will show one of his images.

If one needs to categorize him, he would describe himself as a “computational” artist or a 'generative' artist. His artistic explorations can best be described as 'concrete art' as espoused by the Swiss artist, Max Bill, in the early to mid-twentieth century. He finds support for his approach by statements such as the following:

Pythagorus (570 BCE – 495 BCE): “Number is the measure of all things.”

Heraclitus (535 BCE – 475 BCE): The hidden harmony is better than the obvious one.”

Philolaus (470 BCE – 385 BCE): Number is the bond of the eternal continuance of things.”

Wassily Kandinsky: 'The final abstract expression of every art is number.'

Wassily Kandinsky: 'The more abstract is form, the more clear and direct is its appeal.'

Max Bill: 'I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of mathematical thinking.'

Max Bill: 'Where does structure end and art begin?'

Cyril S. Smith: 'Everything that we can see, everything that we can understand is related to structure - perception is in patterns not fragments.'

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