The geometrist

When we talk about art, we tend to think of color, shape, inspiration, enlightenment, and emotional and mental processes. But it is in this last one where we find unique constructions.

Then appear elements less “sexy”: perspective, proportion, calculus—yep, I’m referring to math—and optics. Art and science have always been closer than most people believe. In recent times, this has become more evident due to the intervention of technological tools in the creation of immersive experiences—AR, image, video, and music generated with AI—especially in cinematography and photography, which have a direct correlation with science and technology.

El caballito, Sebastián, 1992

The argument about AI as the end of art as we know it is merely rhetorical. Art has been exposed to advances for centuries; history proves it. And art has not only survived, but expanded into unsuspected dimensions, conquering new conceptual and ontological territories.

The issue has never been art itself, nor the adoption and integration of new components that enrich it, but conceptualization—the mental and emotional process behind it.

Up to this point, you may say, “Where the hell is this guy going?”

You may like his work or not, but for me, Sebastián embodies everything I’ve mentioned: perspective, color, shape, proportion, calculus, and geometry—a lot of math in it—even as an immersive experience. His pieces are monumental, many of them meant to be walked through or around, touched, inhabited. Iconic. Should I continue?

The examples are in plain sight.

Art will not only survive. It won’t iterate. It transmutes.

The geometrist