AnneMarie Torresen

1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, ...

The Kolakoski sequence is a self-referential, self-generating, infinitely-long list of 1s and 2s. The sequence is best understood by building it with your hands.

In "make art with math" workshops—in math classrooms and in art classrooms, in an art museum and in a math department, with artists and mathematicians from ages 4 to 79—over 200 participants took math into their own hands to spell out nearly 10,000 digits of the Kolakoski sequence.

The math/wires they folded are assembled into an installation at the 2026 RISD Grad Show.

Bouncing back and forth between math and art and art and math, we've built a room and an invitation to sit in it: come inside to soak up a little bit of beautiful math (whatever that feels like to you).

See more at https://atorresen.github.io/thesis

And let me know what you think/how you feel! torresen@umich.edu

Bill Kolakoski, a trained painter and a recreational mathematician, proposed the self-referential, self-generating Kolakoski sequence in 1965.

The rule that defines the Kolakoski sequence is best felt by building it with your own hands.

AnneMarie Torresen explores overlaps between the expressive and the mathematical from a variety of entry points, including poetry, music, code, textiles, puzzles, and teaching. As an artist/mathematician/writer/teacher/human, she/they try to cultivate confusion and prioritize joy.

The folded wires are artifacts of learning/doing/making/touching/feeling this beautiful little piece of math.

I invite you to see it and feel it and sit in it and breathe it in and hold it in your lap.

Art isn’t too scary, and neither is math :)