Everything and Nothing: a partnership for public engagement in mathematics through performance

This is a high-impact project to engage the public with mathematical concepts around the shape of the universe and the nature of infinity and to inspire audiences to engage with mathematics in new and positive ways. The project is timely in relation to contemporary mathematics and arts-science themes and will give excellent value for money by delivering an extensive programme of public engagement centred around performances of a new production. The mathematical focus is the Poincar Conjecture. We will use Borges' short story 'The Library of Babel' to thread a narrative through which we can communicate to audiences the key concepts of the Poincar Conjecture imaginatively and on a number of different levels using text, movement, sound and visual imagery. The project builds on a 2008 early development project (EP/G001650/1) and is led by an interdisciplinary team consisting of of composer Dorothy Ker (PI), sculptor Kate Allen and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy. The piece will be performed by a mathematician-actor and two musical performers and will be produced by a director recruited from the highly innovative physical theatre company Complicite in collaboration with the investigators. The show will visit ten UK venues targeting arts-going audiences, with the specific aim of engaging audiences not normally reached by science projects. Each performance will be primed with an interactive public engagement workshop in which participants can engage creatively with the mathematical ideas explored in the performances. Alongside the performances and workshops a website and blog will facilitate globally-reaching public engagement. Public engagement evaluation and monitoring will be undertaken through a range of innovative and proven methods including post-show discussions, questionnaires, interviews and case studies.

The target beneficiaries of this public engagement will be arts-going audiences. We aim to enhance their knowledge about contemporary developments in mathematics. At the same time we aim to convey how that mathematics can be conceived in relation to the world around us and in relation to sonic and visual media. We aim to communicate the idea of mathematics as embodied knowledge that can be grasped qualitatively, through a variety of different media, and through the imagination. The medium of performance is a potent tool for making high impact on a number of levels simultaneously. We will convey key facts and knowledge by embedding them in the narrative of the performance, which will also demonstrate the mathematics in a variety of different ways, as follows: 1/ the mathematician's script: thinking through Borges' imagined Library (the Universe), solving problems, discovering solutions, counting, calculating, and demonstrating; combined with 2/ the performers' movement: topologies (demonstrating higher dimensions, symmetries, infinities); 3/ visual materials - actual and virtual - deployed within the design: blackboards for the real-time performance of mathematical workings and diagrams and the playful use of objects (books, blackboards, spheres, bagels); and 4/ music: processes (permutations, algorithms, structures) reflecting/capturing the maths of the Library and the infinite number of books The impact of the performances will be further complemented and reinforced by workshops and post-performance discussions. Each performance will be preceded by an interactive workshop for up to 30 people as means of engaging and exploring the mathematical themes opened up by the Borges text. Participants will become involved in discussions and elements of live performance facilitated by the Public Engagement PDRA in collaboration with the performers and specialist research assistants. The aim will be to reinforce the communication of the message that mathematics is exciting, dynamic and relevant, while facilitating creative exploration of some of the performance materials (through games and interactive activities) thus creating impact and a more tangible memory of the project. This approach is in keeping with our notion, germane to the project, about mathematics as embodied knowledge that can be communicated through physical and creative modes. Furthermore, during these workshops the ensemble will be able to learn more about how to capture the imagination of audiences, how the work is being interpreted and gain new perspectives into how mathematics, the sonic and the visual interact. This learning approach will carry on throughout the project and will be captured through the blog and other monitoring mechanisms. After each performance the audience will be invited to remain and participate in a discussion with the team. This will be a further opportunity for public engagement and evaluation. The impact of the project will be enhanced through our work with PDRAs in Music and Mathematics. We will train talented new researchers in a key public engagement role within the project. They will be instrumental in leading workshops and post-show discussions, following up the work of the performances in engaging public audiences with the concepts introduced through the show. In addition the PDRA for Public Engagement will monitor impact through continual qualitative and quantitative evaluation. In particular we aim to deepen engagement through sustaining individual contact with the project over a range of different activities and media, so that some one coming to the performance might also read the blog, attend the workshop and participate in the post-show discussion. Following the performance they may go on to participate further in the blog and review the show on Youtube, or take part in a Second Life event. Another person may interact with the project entirely online or through the DVD or through broadcast/print media.