Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing

Exhibition

Stephen Goddard, curator

March 24, 2012–July 22, 2012

Gallery 318, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Cryptograph is organized in conjunction with the many celebrations taking place around the world in honor of the centenary of Alan Turing (1912–1954), the brilliant British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and pioneering computer scientist. This exhibition draws from the Spencer’s permanent collections, creating new conversations between works and exploring many of the same questions that drove Turing’s research: finding meaning in patterns; and finding connections between mathematics and computing, intelligence, and natural form. Turing’s world-changing innovations include the Turing Machine, a conceptual machine that builds on the notion of the algorithm and lays the foundation of modern computing. Turing was also deeply involved in the idea of “Machine Intelligence,” and he developed a test for artificial intelligence that is still in use today. Late in his career Turing became fascinated with the field of mathematical biology, a field that explores the mathematical underpinnings of morphogenesis, the origins and evolution of biological form. The exhibition is co-sponsored by and was conceived in consultation and collaboration with KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center and the Biodiversity Institute.