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Renowned physicist and mathematician Professor Sir Roger Penrose and artist and broadcaster Matthew Collings discuss the different paths to their understanding of our universe and their representations of aspects of it.

We may initially perceive scientific equations and art as being far apart. Beauty and truth feel present equally for both scientists and artists in their work, but are so different in the ways articulated.

Could it be that ‘artistic’ and ‘scientific’ sensibilities and processes are more similar than we might think –  maybe advances in science stem as much from the imagination and creativity as works of art? Could it be that the ‘artistic’ process is more disciplined, and regulated than might seem?

Penrose’s mathematical and scientific interests are frequently based on geometrical notions, and many striking visual images feature strongly in his work. Among the best known of these are his never-repeating tiling patterns which exhibit a crystallo-graphically forbidden five-fold symmetry, now believed to underlie the atomic structure of some of the recently Nobel-awarded quasi-crystals.

Collings works in collaboration with Emma Biggs on paintings based on geometric division and colour relationships. Their process is intuitive, without scientific knowledge, and influenced by the natural world with recourse to 20th century western abstract art,  early Islamic and Christian mosaics and early Renaissance art. He is author of This is Civilisation, This is Modern Art and Blimey! From Bohemia to Britpop: London Art World from Francis Bacon to Damien Hirst.

They will be introduced by Christopher Butler, emeritus Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, and author of and the Arts: Enjoying Literature Painting and Music.