Art

Museum Monday: Math at the SFO Museum

Art, , , ,
All photos Courtesy SFO Museum

The SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has kicked off yet another exhibition that might make you miss your next flight. This one is all about mathematics.

Courtesy SFO Museum

Mathematics: Vintage and Modern displays slide rules, early calculating machines, and other math-related objects from the past. Included are teaching tools that help students learn arithmetic, geometry, and calculus, as well as vintage children’s toys and games. To make brains work harder, several works of art in this exhibit demonstrate complex mathematics through sculptural forms. Examples from modern math—knot theory, topology, and ambiguous models—illustrate how math deals with the very dimensions of space. 

Klein Bottle by Cliff Stoll

Here are some more images from the exhibit.

Thacher’s calculating instrument  c. 1903
Millionaire calculating machine  c. 1904

Today we use our lightweight telephones as calculators. But in 1893, Swiss engineer Otto Steigler’s invention, the Millionaire, likely seemed miraculous.

“Made of brass and weighing sixty-seven pounds, this revolutionary machine could perform a direct multiplication,” the exhibit notes tell us. “With a single turn of the hand crank, it multiplied two numbers together and calculated results up to eighteen digits. For decades, banks balanced their books and figured compound interest on Millionaires. “

Rubik’s Cube and other mathematical puzzles

Mathematics: Vintage and Modern is located post-security in Terminal 2 of San Francisco International Airport through May 1, 2022.

The exhibition is accessible to ticketed passengers but non-ticketed guests can arrange access by emailing curator@flysfo.com,

Fresh art at LAX, RNO, and SFO Airports

Art, ,

Here at Stuck at the Airport, we’re big fans of the art and history exhibits passengers can enjoy while waiting for their planes. And we’re delighted to see that – pandemic or not – airport art programs are marching forward.

At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) there’s a new LA Scenes group exhibition in Terminal 1.

And, in conjunction with the National Arts Program, the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority is hosting the 13th annual Employee Art Show.

The colorful exhibition showcases 132 pieces by 88 airport artists drawn from tenants and vendors, staff, family, and
retirees of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority.

This show began in 2007 and includes works ranging from paintings, works on paper, photography, mixed media, sculptures, and crafts.

Look for this show in RNO’s depARTures Galler, located post-security in the C concourse through August 4, 2021

Airports, airplanes & Alexander Calder

Art, Aviation history, , , , ,
Courtesy Calder Foundation

July 22 was artist Alexander Calder’s birthday, giving us an excuse to share some photos of his work in airports and on airplanes.

The photo above is of Calder in 1957 inspecting the installation of his work originally titled .125, after the gauge of the aluminum elements in Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (then Idlewild Airport). The piece was later redubbed Flight.

Courtesy Library of Congress

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) also has a work by Alexander Calder in its collection. This piece is titled, appropriately enough, Pittsburgh.

Courtesy Pittsburgh International Airport

Calder’s work also appeared on Braniff International Airways airplanes in the mid-1970s.

The first was a Douglas DC-8 known as Flying Colors of South America. The second was a Boeing 727-200 named Flying Colors of the United States.

Courtesy of the Calder Foundation

To learn more about the airplanes Calder painted for Braniff, see this article from 2020 by Chris Sloan in Airways Magazine.

Fresh art at Miami Int’l Airport

Art, Uncategorized, ,
Brian Reedy, UFO over Bombay, 2020

UFOs have been in the news lately. So we are pleased to see a piece of art featuring a UFO included in a new exhibition at Miami International Airport.

Key West and Other Unusual Places includes printed works by Miami-based visual artists and printmakers Brian Reedy and Tom Virgin.

Reedy has a fascination with the supernatural and Asian architecture. So the work above, UFO over Bombay, makes sense.

Tom Virgin’s work reflects his travels across the United States.

Tom Virgin, Big Shark (from Escape Series), 

The exhibit will be on display in the The Eye Has to Travel Gallery near Gate D29 until October, 2021.

This and that from an airport near you

Art, , , , , , ,

Some people scroll through TikTok dances at the end of the day.

We click through the airport and airline news on Twitter.

Here are some items we stopped to read Tuesday evening.

Leave the fireworks at home

July 4th is going to be a busy time at airports and long security lines might make tempers flare. Don’t make it worse by bringing fireworks (even sparklers) in your carry-on bag.

Southwest Airline’s Freedom One

This plane with a patriotic livery is making the rounds. Be sure to watch how they made the paint scheme happen.

SFO adding some new gates and amenities

SFO keeps moving forward. We’re can’t wait to visit the new museum gallery.

United Airlines going all-in with new aircraft

We’re all for new planes, bigger overhead bins, seatback entertainment, and the promise of being able to connect wireless headphones with Bluetooth technology.