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Marcus du Sautoy: Three Strange Loops

Marcus du Sautoy in front of a blackboard

Following on from their Strange Loops triptych, Marcus du Sautoy and Joana Seguro discuss the inspiration behind the work – Douglas Hofstadter’s 1979 book Gödel Escher Bach.

Jumping between the logical loops of Kurt Gödel, the impossible geometry of MC Escher and the interlocking cadences of Johann Sebastian Bach, the two discuss the self-referential and repeating patterns in nature and art, and perhaps the strangest loop of all – our own consciousness.

Marcus du Sautoy is the Oxford Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Joana Seguro is the producer of the Strange Loops series at the Barbican and founder of Art Klang.

Produced by the Barbican in partnership with the Royal Society

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