The Tyranny of Number (2015)

Taking its title from a phrase coined in 1957 to describe the challenge of fitting ever increasing numbers of transistors to silicon chips, The Tyranny of Number comprises a set of found images, original works and sculptures.

The phrase was first used by Bell Labs, on the tenth anniversary of the invention of the transistor, referring to the byzantine task of designing the integrated chip. Moore's Law (1965) soon took over as rapid advancements in semiconductor circuits created an exponential growth in computing power.

In the work of Alain Badiou, the same phrase is used to allude to a despotic regime of number governing scientific, economic and cultural representations. Rooted in the inductive axioms of set theory, Badiou's formulation of mathematics as ontology resonates with the universality of computation (Church-Turing-Deutsch) thesis, which posits that all physical processes constitute a form of quantum computation.

Works

Phase Diagram (Rh-Zn-Ni)
Archival Print
40x40cm

Manipulation of a Qubit along a Bloch Sphere
Archival Print
20x12cm

BitFenix Colossus Venom
Raster

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT)
Archival Print
62x62cm

Inductive proof of the binomial theorem (Al Kajari, 1007AD)
Raster
1920x1400px

Computers and Intractability
Raster
1920x1350px

A/S 400
Pinseal Polypropylene
58x22cm

Liquid Crystal (Nematic Phase)
Archival Print
19x12cm

Harami Pattern
Archival Print
12x12"

Hilbert Space Filling Curve
Raster
1920x950px

Three Phases of a Hilbert Curve
Archival Print on Canvas
51x51cm

Catastrophe 3.4
Raster
1920x1559px

Minerals in Typical Computers (NMA)
Raster
1920x1485px

Aggregation 023.03
Archival Print, Tape, Wood
87x52cm

Untitled Catastrophe
Raster
1920x1300px

Solution 023.05
Ink, Tape, Cardboard
117x52cm

Catastrophe 3.7
Archival Print
15x12"

Untitled Phase Space
Dodecahedra, Granite
55x55cm