From September 21, 2012 to January 27, 2013, the BGC presents The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking in the Focus Gallery. Curated by Visiting Assistant Professor Nina Samuel and students, the exhibition focuses primarily on the work of Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010), one of the most notable mathematicians of the twentieth century, and the role of images in scientific thinking.

This video features animations of jagged objects that Mandelbrot would later call “fractals” in 1975. The intertitle, “The Island of Dr. Mandelbrot” alludes to the famous H. G. Wells fantasy novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. This deliberate reference to science fiction suggests a connection between Mandelbrot and a long line of scientists who had been seen as godlike, creator figures.

The Focus Gallery presents small-scale exhibitions that are part of an academically innovative project that also includes graduate seminars, public programming, and publications both in print and online. Envisaged as a laboratory, Focus Gallery projects promote experimentation in display, interpretation, and the use of digital media and reflect the BGC’s commitment to exhibitions as integral to scholarly activity.