Ameet Hindocha

Ameet Hindocha

Lattice Configurations    

Moving images, 3 min loop 

One in a Billion

Moving images, 3 min loop 

Pentambulation

Moving images, 3 min loop 

A series of animations in which I rotate design elements to reveal innumerable possible variations without breaking the interconnected lines. These pieces draw on a key quality of Islamic architectural ornamentation whereby the plane is intricately and evenly patterned, bringing to mind the rhythmic density of pattern in nature. The multiple centres of rotation encourage immersion in movement across the visual plane, much like watching raindrops on a lake. 

Flutter

Cut paper

A multi-layered papercut of a non-repeating but highly repetitive surface pattern, utilising mainly three shapes to maintain consistent visual rhythms while never displaying overall symmetry. Inspired by a piece of music called Flutter by Autechre, this piece plays with the idea of repetition and symmetry in surface design. 

Drawing is the core of my creative practice combined with a deep appreciation of paper, ink, wood, pixels and an insatiable desire to explore and express the beauty of number visually. I oscillate fluidly between analogue and digital processes. 

I see my work as continuing in the lineage of the geometers and artisans who created the masterpieces of architecture and book arts found across the Islamic world, and extending those possibilities utilising the tools, materials and processes available to a modern-day practitioner. 

The intention of my teaching practice is to inspire students to discover the traditional skills of geometric construction as fundamental tools for design in the modern world. 

Ameet Hindocha is an artist, designer and educator with a degree in Graphic Design, specialising in the creative exploration of geometry, with a particular focus on Islamic geometric design. 

He has applied these skills to numerous design commissions, notably including designs for the final season of TV show Homeland and video work for the permanent collection at Qatar National Library.

Alongside such commissions, geometric research and the resulting artworks, he teaches and lectures on geometric design in the UK and internationally for the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, Istanbul Design Centre and Jameel House Cairo as well as teaching digital fabrication at University of the Arts London (UAL). 

www.ambigraph.com

@ambigraph

Natalia Jurga on ‘One in a Billion’ by Ameet Hindocha

Dynamical billiards are a mathematical model which describe the dynamics of an idealised game of billiards. A famous choice of billiard table in this mathematical model is the Bunimovich stadium, which owes its name to its “football stadium” geometry, consisting of two straight parallel sides with two curved ends. An example trajectory of this dynamical system can be traced by choosing an initial position and angle for your “ball” and then allowing it to flow in straight lines, hitting the walls of the stadium so that its angle of reflection matches its angle of incidence. While some special trajectories (called periodic trajectories) will trace the same path for infinite time (such as a trajectory flowing perpendicular to the parallel sides), typical trajectories will eventually cover every part of the stadium.

If the ball is now replaced with a quantum particle, one would naively expect the resulting dynamics to become more chaotic. However, as the wave function of the quantum particle gets smeared across the stadium, we see that through a process of constructive interference the wave function begins to congregate around the same special periodic trajectories that we saw before. This strange phenomenon is known as “quantum scarring”. This piece reminded me of the distinctive geometry that this scarring forms within the stadium.

Natalia Jurga is a mathematician working on dynamical systems and fractal geometry at the University of St Andrews. 

My parents emigrated to the UK from Poland shortly before I was born and I grew up in Colindale in North-West London. During my GCSEs I fell in love with mathematics, especially after reading James Gleick's book "Chaos". I studied mathematics at the University of Bristol where Dr Thomas Jordan's and Professor Corinna Ulcigrai's Dynamical systems course captivated my curiosity. After Dr Thomas Jordan introduced me to fractal geometry during my final year project, I was committed to pursuing a PhD in the interplay between these two fields. I undertook a PhD at the University of Warwick under the supervision of Professor Mark Pollicott, where I was exposed to the vibrant research activity in these fields. 

When I finished my PhD I undertook a postdoctoral position at the University of Surrey where I worked with Dr Ian Morris, whose guidance helped me cement my research independence. In 2020 I joined the vibrant fractal geometry group at the University of St Andrews in sunny Scotland, where I have remained since.

Apart from my research, I am very interested in thinking and writing about the cultural and sociological aspects of academic pursuit and its connections to self-awareness. I also greatly enjoy playing football, listening to music and dancing (afrobeats), good conversations with friends, hiking, camping and the great outdoors in general.