From the earliest times, art and mathematics maintained a very close relationship. Sometimes polemical, as between the contrasting positions of Plato and Aristotle, but always fruitful. For example, the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Béla Bartók, Bernar Venet, Roman Opalka, Manfred Mohr, Ryoji Ikeda, Hollis Frampton, Shigeru Onishi and many others. Since the mid-sixties, however, this relationship has begun to weaken, and a certain distance has grown between these two fields. 

This talk will explore the reasons for this split between art and mathematics in the postmodern era, and will identify a prime suspect. Michel Tombroff will draw on the thinking of contemporary French philosopher Alain Badiou, and in particular its concept of inesthetics, an original knot between art and thought which he has applied to all forms of arts, including visual, poetry, literature, dance, theatre and cinema. 

Michel Tombroff (b. 1964) is a visual artist who lives and works in Brussels. He graduated in electrical engineering from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and in theoretical computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His artistic research explores the links between questions of formalization, subjectivity and aesthetics in art, mathematics and philosophy. His essay “Zéro dièse existe. Art, mathématiques, inesthétique” was published by Éditions Mimésis in February 2024. It was launched at Wiels (Brussels) and presented at Ircam Centre Pompidou (Paris).