Episode 31: Math & Art + How to collect KAWS

To make the most out of your listening experience, follow along with the episode's Wingman post on our Instagram: @artvirgins.

Show Notes:

It's 11:30 on a Friday night, there are two hours of procrastination behind us, and Zahra wants to talk about math. Stay with us. It starts with a line from an old TV series — do we need math to understand beauty, or do we need beauty to understand math? — and turns into three stories: the golden ratio and the Parthenon (myth or fact?), the Fibonacci sequence hiding in your pineapple, and the time Leonardo da Vinci moved in with a mathematician and illustrated a book arguing that one number has the properties of God.

Meanwhile, Sami picks up where Part 1 left off. Last time, he stood in front of a wall of 40 KAWS figurines and couldn't tell them apart. This week, he hands you the framework he wishes he'd had: a four-tier pyramid, three things that move a piece up or down inside its tier, and a counterfeit problem so big that one of the world's most serious KAWS collectors says about half the pieces he's compared turned out to be fake.

And then, the purchase. A new holiday stop in China, a yellow robot Companion, a 3:45 a.m. alarm — two nights in a row — the wrong date, cold feet, the hidden costs nobody mentions, and a waiting list that opened 30 minutes later. Did Sami finally buy his first KAWS?

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Zahra: math and beauty* Numb3rs — the TV series (on Prime Video) that sparked the question* The Parthenon, on the Acropolis* The golden ratio — 1.618…* Euclid and Pythagoras* The Fibonacci sequence — find it in sunflowers, pineapples and pine cones* Leonardo da Vinci and Luca Pacioli* Divina Proporzione (The Divine Proportion) — written in Milan 1496–1498, printed in Venice in 1509, with around 60 illustrations by da Vinci* The Vitruvian Man* The Last Supper

Sami: how to collect a KAWS* The KAWS family: Companion, Chum and BFF* The Original Fake era (1999–2013)* KAWS x Disney Pinocchio & Jiminy Cricket Companion (2010, edition of 500)* Karimoku wood Companion (2011, edition of 100)* KAWS x Dior* KAWS Holiday stops: Seoul, Hong Kong, Japan (Mount Fuji), Taipei, UK (Bristol), Singapore, Changbai Mountain (with The North Face), Indonesia, Melbourne, Space and Hangzhou* Fellows — the new figurine released July 27* KAWS x Uniqlo — with new characters Earth, Moon and Sun, and the first KAWS plush toys* Selim Varol — the collector with 700 KAWS pieces* Where to buy and browse: KAWSONE, MoMA Design Store, DDT