M. C. Escher Tessellation Essay

432 Words2 Pages

Tessellations by M.C. Escher
Bryan Long
Geometry B
Mr. Boby
05/05/2017

“M.C. Escher was a 20th century Dutch illustrator whose innovative works explored echoing patterns, perception, space and transformation.”

Escher was born on June 17, 1898, in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. He was influenced by Moorish designs in Spain, he kept designing his work, but this art by Moorish designs "Day and Night" featured interlocking forms and transformation on a surreal canvas. He was later embraced by both communities, artistic and math/science.
There as Escher decided to take graphic arts only because he was inspired by his mentor, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. The beginning of his work started with innovative portraiture captured in woodcuts and some art included …show more content…

Escher, honeycombs have something in common: they are consisted with repeating patterns of the same shape without any overlaps or gaps. This type of pattern is called tiling, or tessellation.

“The word "tessellate" means to form or arrange small squares in a checkered or mosaic pattern”, according to Drexel University. Its Greek tesserae, a Greek word for "four." The first set of tilings were square tiles. Tessellation is rich in mathematics, which ties with geometry. Cultures ranging from Irish and Arabic to Indian and Chinese have all practiced tiling at various levels of complexity.
“In mathematical terms, "regular" describes any shape that has all equal sides and equal angles”. There are only three regular shapes that can even make up a regular tessellation: the equilateral triangle, the square and the regular hexagon. The regular hexagon is mainly used in the pattern of a honeycomb.
Tessellations of a plane can be found in the regular patterns of tiles in a bathroom floor, or flagstones in a patio. They are also widely used in the design of fabric or wallpaper. Tessellations of three-dimensional space play an important role in chemistry, where they govern the shapes of