The geometries around us sublimated by art and science

The exhibition Shapes: Patterns in Art and Science, on view at EPFL Pavilions until 9 March, invites the public to discover the richness of natural and artificial geometries through a visual and interactive journey.

Our environment, in all’its multiplicity, reveals rich geometric structures whose regularity and repetitiveness we are naturally inclined to perceive. These can appear as stable, immobile patterns, but they can also be dynamic: emerging, disappearing, or metamorphosing from one state to another. The complexity, precision, mystery and beauty of these patterns captivate and amaze us.

Mathematics, materials science and biology are just some of the fields of science that abound in such structures, and that set out to observe, study and classify them. The fascinating power of the many shapes that surround us is as much a source of fascination for scientists as it is for artists, who for centuries have found in them an incredible aesthetic force and an infinite source of inspiration.

Conceived by professors Marc Troyanov, Hugo Parlier and Michael Herbst, and co-produced by EPFL Pavilions, Shapes: Patterns in Art and Science is the fruit of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the EPFL Institute of Mathematics and the universities of Luxembourg, Lausanne and Fribourg. Combining scientific exploration with an artistic eye, it highlights a shared fascination with geometric, dynamic and symmetrical structures. The exhibition can be viewed on campus until 9 March 2025.

Inspired by the works of M.C. Escher and Johannes Kepler, we sought to create a space where the boundaries between science, mathematics and art dissolve, opening the way to a territory where structure becomes emotion and emotion becomes structure.

Marc Troyanov, co-curator

An exhibition in four dimensions

Shapes offers the public a dynamic exploration of bacterial communities and the complex structures they create, as well as a plunge into the geometry and symmetry of crystalline structures. The exhibition is also a tribute to the beauty of spheres and the complexity of their stacking. Finally, interactive installations encourage the public to take part in this exchange, to express themselves and leave their mark.

A genuine dialogue between art and science, Shapes showcases works by contemporary artists whose sculptures, cut-outs, videos and installations are rooted in science. It also highlights the scientific advances from which it draws its inspiration, inviting the public to discover the seminal work of astronomer Johannes Kepler, the exceptional and innovative contributions of mathematician Maryna Viazovska - a professor at EPFL and Fields medalist in 2022 - and the famous creations of M.C. Escher, which masterfully explore geometry and symmetry.

Between rigour and poetry, Shapes: Patterns in Art and Science lifts the veil on the artistic nature of science, which observes, orders and reveals the often unsuspected beauty of the forms that surround us.

On 12 February, to complement the exhibition, the public is invited to take part in a symposium that will bring together artists and scientists, contributing to a collective reflection on the creations and concepts that emerge at the crossroads of these two worlds.

Exhibition

Shapes: Patterns in Art and Science
17.1.-9.3.2025
EPFL Pavilions, Pavilion A

https://epfl-pavilions.ch/events/shapes-symposium

Symposium

Shapes Symposium: Encounters between art and science
12.2.2025, 9 am-5 pm, Foyer SG, EPFL
https://epfl-pavilions.ch/events/shapes-symposium