Pattern Play: An Exhibition Exploring Pattern in Art, Design & Science

Patterns are all around us. The physical world depends on regularity and repetition. A large part of scientific research involves the identification and understanding of patterns, either physical or theoretical. What may seem random and chaotic often still depends on underlying, predictable patterns. Art too is all about patterns. The mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead described art as “the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.” The influential art critic Herbert Read defined works of art as “pattern informed by sensibility”. In this exhibition we explore different ways that patterns have been explored, interpreted and sometimes disrupted by artists, designers and scientists. All of the objects, artworks and specimens on display are from the University of Dundee Museum Collections.