The Universe At Hand
Madelyn Dick’s demeanor gleams while her thinking is bubbling just below the surface. She has always looked at things unconventionally and did not quite fit in a traditional educational environment of middle school. She finds beauty in chaos, and abstract thoughts and concepts.
As she developed an architecture maquette from a foam block with chainsaw in hand, she worked diligently to create a physical manifestation of a metaphysical concept. Her artistic skill and talents in three-dimensional modeling and workings in the theatre served as tools to complete a rendering of the planet’s orbits around the sun. Her goal, as the bits of foam flew around the room, centered on how she can use math to help others understand astrophysics visually, through architecture.
Maddy’s project was per invitation – France in the Front Yard, an opportunity for students to interpret the connections between France and Louisiana, made possible with a grant from the Consulate General of France in New Orleans. The sculpture was installed and unveiled on April 29th in the presence of Consul General Vincent Sciama, school faculty and peers.
“I would hope that this design could eventually become a science institute,” she humbly shared. “In the design, earth represents the door to the building. A building that will be inspiring to the scientific community at large, but more importantly to those inside.”
As a graduating senior from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts specializing in Theatre Design but also taking full-day academic classes, Maddy was motivated in her math and physics classes at the unique school, NOCCA, located on the border of the historic Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods of New Orleans. She considers her science and math teachers, artists themselves, her mentors; those teachers are inspired by their passions, and then inspire others.
“My 11th grade math and science teachers at NOCCA, Dr. Marks and Dr. Haas, are not your normal high school teachers,” Maddy shared with a grin. “They work for environmental causes, they practice what they love and it shows in the classroom. They give examples how math, physics, and engineering are real things all around us”
“My sister went to NOCCA and I would watch the kids come out of the building while waiting for her to come to the car,” she shared. “So many different types of kids talking with each other, it was very cool. So during my 8th grade year of online line classes in Slidell, I worked to audition and apply to NOCCA and was thankfully accepted. And I fit right in!”
The concept practicum that inspired her architectural rendering of the planetary system included scientific research on how the planets revolve and orbit around the sun. The following is an excerpt from Maddy’s project:
The Universe at Hand | Project Description
The purpose of mathematics was demonstrated when the French astronomer, Urbain Le Verrier, utilized the math behind an abnormal movement of Uranus and found that it was caused by a planet; hence the discovery of Neptune. This model of a skyscraper is mathematically based on each orbit of the planets and the sun. It conceptualizes our solar system to scale using mathematical calculations and artistic vision, therefore representing the role of mathematics in humanity’s journey to understanding the universe.
“What Ms. Maddie Dick was able to conceive and bring to life is remarkable,” shared NOCCA President | CEO Kyle Wedberg. “She is a powerful mind and a gifted creative who has worked with a team to bring this sculpture to fruition. There is so much here from the old school formation of structure with curry combs to the space age painting of multi-stage sealant and paint. The constellation that she has brought to life is intellectually engaging and esthetically fantastic.”
Consul General Vincent Sciama added, “Ms. Madelyn Dick’s work is quite spectacular, not only in its volume and aesthetic presence, but also due to the fact that it was created through extensive reflection on the relationship between mathematics, the ‘arts plastiques,’ and the contribution of French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier.”
“I am quite proud of this graduating senior,” Maddy’s arts faculty department chair Dan Zimmer shared. “Maddy used this project to keep her motivation focused during this challenging year. She represents the synergy of arts and academics at NOCCA. We look forward to seeing what she creates, either on the stage or in science classes.”
After sealing and painting the structure, Maddy’s installation is now on displayed on the grounds of the Résidence de France on Prytania Street, (2406 Prytania | New Orleans), as a tribute to the French scientist and astronomer Urbain Le Verrier. The work and plaque are visible from the sidewalk for passers-by to enjoy.
The portfolio project incorporating Maddy’s academic inspirations will lead her along her way to post-secondary studies. She plans to enroll at Loyola University of New Orleans as a physics major.
The Universe at Hand | Project Thesis
Mathematics, in essence, is a system of symbols with the purpose of explaining visual occurrences in the universe. Urbain Le Verrier found Neptune by observing its gravitational effect on Uranus. He saw that its orbit was moving out of the ordinary path and used mathematical calculations, based on those movements, to test his theory that a planet was the cause of the movements. Neptune has always existed, and so has the math behind it. Humans just needed a visual occurrence to understand that a phenomenon existed in order to bring forth the math to explain it. My project represents how we can use mathematics to visualize the solar system and every other planetary object.
I see the math behind the orbits of the planets in our solar system, and the shapes of the building will be a representation of the visual occurrences that the math is trying to portray. The space will be used to recreate another version of how the Le Verrier discovered Neptune,
The Universe at Hand | Vision for Completion
The space will contain a scaled down color model of a building. Its structure will be mathematically based on the shape of each planet’s orbits in our solar system. Its structure will consist of nine humps, with each hump representing a planet and one will be the sun. The humps will be different heights and sizes because the orbits of each planet are also different sizes.
The building will represent the shape of the solar system. The actual, physical shape of each hump will be catenaries, the shape a chain makes when you hold it by its two ends. Each catenaries’ structure will represent the planets’ orbits because the function for the catenary will include the same “a” value as the orbits’ function. In other words, I would take the “a” value of the ellipse equation, 1=(x^2/a^2)+(y^2/b^2), and plug it into the “a” value of the catenary equation, y=a・cosh(x). The height of each catenary will be the same value as the gravitational pull of each plane.