Monday, February 21, 2022

Numbers Are Images

Charles Demuth, "I saw the figure 5 in gold," 1928 (source).

Demuth's title was taken from this poem by William Carlos Williams:

Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city

 

Jasper Johns, "Zero to Nine," 1959.

Robert Indiana, "Numbers Portfolio," 1968

Andy Warhol, "Chanel No. 5," 1980

Francesco Alpigiano, "Numbers CU," 2019. (source)


A history of the 7up logo. (source)


Recently at her blog Altered Book Lover, Elizabeth made a collage of very colorful numbers, which made me think of ways that numbers have been used in art works, not for their computational or symbolic value, but for their image. Pop artists and conceptual artists of the mid-20th century especially did this. I'm sharing my post with Elizabeth and the bloggers who get together at her blog each Monday and Tuesday.

Blog post by mae sander for mae food dot blog spot dot com.

23 comments:

kwarkito said...

J'adore cet article, et c'est une excellente idée de recenser quelques tentatives graphiques où interviennent des chiffres. Il y en a que je ne connaissais pas. Et le 7up est aussi comme une petite madeleine proustienne (hélas en plus sucré)

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
What an interesting collection of art!
Have a great day!

DVArtist said...

Your posts are always so brilliant. Have a nice day.

Iris Flavia said...

Very cool - I think we never had 7up in Germany...?

Debra said...

Love this post! Your blog visit was such a nice surprise-thank you!

Debra Eliotseats said...

I love the art and all the connections you make!

Carola Bartz said...

What a great post, Mae. I remember when I flew to Taiwan in 1983 I was asked on the plane whether I like a 7up and I had no idea what it was. We never had that in Germany.

Kate Yetter said...

I enjoy art with words and numbers. Great selection.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Linda Kunsman said...

a fun and interesting post, and I love how the numbers connected to art and T day!

My name is Erika. said...

I enjoyed these examples Mae as numbers are so much fun to use on an art journal page. It's great to see other example where they are used also. I really like the number 5 poem too. Happy T day. hugs-Erika

Sharon Madson said...

Love your numbers post, and aren't you clever how you connected it to TSFT.
Happy T Day.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

If only I could make number art like those famous artists made. They are all wonderful. I know you focused on 7-up, but the entire post was wonderful. Thanks for sharing these and thanks for tying them back to the art I created earlier. It's also a perfect post for T this Tuesday, too.

nwilliams6 said...

Mae, such an interesing post. Numbers have power. I especially like how they gave 7-up a persona saying it likes us. Super funny if you think about it. Great pictures! Hugz

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I was racking my brain trying to think of a number Andy Warhol might have used, but I came up blank. Have I forgotten something obvious?

Mae Travels said...

@David -- The best Andy Warhol number I found was the "Chanel no. 5" image I used. His interest in advertising contributed to his use of logos, but I don't even think he used many number-logos.

Valerie-Jael said...

Numbers are always fascinating, in math and in art. Happy T Day, Valerie

Divers and Sundry said...

So many 7-Ups! It's the 60s version I'm most familiar with. Happy T Tuesday

CJ Kennedy said...

Fun blog post. My mother adored Chanel No. 5. Happy T Day

Let's Art Journal said...

Fabulous and fun, loved seeing all the different number images 😀. Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x

Lisca said...

Numbers are fascinating. I always used to be fascinated by mathematics and lately I use numbers in scrapbooking and cardmaking and there are so many designs of numbers.
Yes, I remember 7Up. Strange that we had that in Holland (where I grew up) but not in the neigboring country of Germany.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

Jeanie said...

I love this, Mae. The example you shared are very clever, some even very beautiful. I have trouble telling certain numbers apart. The junction of 69E, 69W, 96E and 96W continues to baffle me and more than once I have chosen the wrong route on the highway and have had to back up. Someday when someone else is driving I will take a photo of it. I have trouble with 5 and 8, too. When I was a bookkeeper, I was stressed every day trying to make things add up and would take best 2 of 3 or 3 of 5. I'm very fond of the Jasper Johns and Charles Demuth images here.

Jenn Jilks said...

This is a lovely array!

Empire of the Cat said...

This is great, I loved the history of the 7up logo. I think the green one is the best one, who know why they changed it. Happy T Day Elle/EOTC xx