2023 Pi Daylatest newsbuy art
Tango is a sad thought that is danced.Enrique Santos Discépolothink & dancemore quotes
very clickable
music + math
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
WELCOME TO THE 5TH DIMENSION | This isn't meant to be understood — it's meant to be enjoyed.
Love music and science? Explore my collaboration with Max Cooper where we tell the story of infinities and animate the digits of π. Both tracks appear on Max's Yearning for the Infinite album.
Another collaboration with Max!

Max Cooper's Ascent — Making of the Music video

Enter the 5th dimension

Ascent answers the question: if you were living in a 5-dimensional room and projected digits of `\pi` onto its walls, what would you see?

1 · Press release

“Ascent” is chapter 9 of Max Cooper’s audio-visual masterpiece, “Unspoken Words” — a multi-platform project incorporating music, film, installation, live experience and digital art, exploring themes around the struggle to understa nd and express our internal state.

“Ascent” is an audio-visualisation of transcendence told through the lens of music, science and art. Max Cooper said about the inception of the theme:

“I was working on an installation project for a cathedral in Leuven, trying to communicate the idea and feeling of transcendence. I wanted to create this intense experience which I couldn’t put into words, but there was an ascending musical form which captured it”

Max commissioned scientist, artist and long-time collaborator, Martin Krzywinski to express the theme visually, interpreting the idea as an ascent into higher dimensions of spatial form, the resulting 5D hypercubes collapsed back down to the two dimensions of a screen.

“I discussed the idea with Martin [Krzywinski] to make associated visual ideas from the mathematics of form beyond our everyday, which delivered the message as directly and completely as I could.”

The “Ascent” NFT collection comprises five categories of works across a range of media and valuations. Black, Plasma, Viridis, Video and Public is available via Mesh Lab on Objkt on the Tezos blockchain.

2 · NFT posters

During the video walkthrough, you might have noticed that the camera is zoomed into only a portion of the full scene.

If you're wondering what everything looks like, these posters are for you. They represent the full scene — the camera is zoomed out to capture all the objects on the stage.

The posters are available as NFTs. These are 11,520 × 6,480 pixel lossless PNGs but the scene fits into the central 6,480 × 6,480 square.

Below I provide the print resolution (ppcm = pixels per centimeter, ppi = pixels per inch) for a square (6,480 × 6,480) image printed to fit onto common European and North American formats.

2.1 · European sizes


fmt
size
(mm)
size
(inch)

ppcm

ppi
A0
841 × 1,189
33.1 × 46.8
77
196
A1
594 × 841
23.4 × 33.1
109
277
A2
420 × 594
16.5 × 23.4
154
392
A3
297 × 420
11.7 × 16.5
218
554
A4
210 × 297
8.3 × 11.7
309
784
A5
148.5 × 210
5.8 × 8.3
436
1,108
A6
105 × 148.5
4.1 × 5.8
617
1,568

2.2 · North American sizes

size
(inch)
size
(mm)

ppi

ppcm
4 × 4
102 × 102
1,620
638
5 × 5
127 × 127
1,296
510
6 × 6
152 × 152
1,080
425
7 × 7
178 × 178
926
365
8 × 8
203 × 203
810
319
10 × 10
254 × 254
648
255
12 × 12
305 × 305
540
213
14 × 14
356 × 356
463
182
15 × 15
381 × 381
432
170
20 × 20
508 × 508
324
128
22 × 22
559 × 559
295
116
24 × 24
610 × 610
270
106
36 × 36
914 × 914
180
71
40 × 40
1,016 × 1,016
162
64
50 × 50
1,270 × 1,270
130
51

3 · The collections

Three sub-collections of still images — Black, Plasma, and Viridis — complete an expansive range of 90 vast still images. These stills depict the whole scene, often revealing what exists outside of the field of vision shown in the video piece at specific moments in time.

3.1 · The black-and-white collection

Black features 50 images with five editions, and one registered collector of each piece will be randomly selected and receive a unique one of one physical giclée print, printed on 300gsm minuet cotton rag using archival inks.

The Black collection contains 50 assets. They are shown below downsampled to 1,000 × 1,000 pixels and cropped to a square format.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 01:29:01 FRAME 1897 [49] | ASCENT_Black_0011101101001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 01:34:01 FRAME 2017 [50] | ASCENT_Black_0011111100001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 01:06:01 FRAME 2545 [51] | ASCENT_Black_0100111110001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:21:01 FRAME 2905 [52] | ASCENT_Black_0101101011001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:25:01 FRAME 3001 [53] | ASCENT_Black_0101110111001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:04:01 FRAME 3697 [54] | ASCENT_Black_0111001110001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:06:01 FRAME 3745 [55] | ASCENT_Black_0111010100001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:08:01 FRAME 3793 [56] | ASCENT_Black_0111011010001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:15:19 FRAME 3979 [57] | ASCENT_Black_0111110001011 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:18:11 FRAME 4043 [58] | ASCENT_Black_0111111001011 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:23:03 FRAME 4155 [59] | ASCENT_Black_1000000111011 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 02:27:10 FRAME 4258 [60] | ASCENT_Black_1000010100010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:31:21 FRAME 4365 [61] | ASCENT_Black_1000100001101 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:39:01 FRAME 4537 [62] | ASCENT_Black_1000110111001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:45:01 FRAME 4681 [63] | ASCENT_Black_1001001001001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:48:01 FRAME 4753 [64] | ASCENT_Black_1001010010001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:04:01 FRAME 4897 [65] | ASCENT_Black_1001100100001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:08:23 FRAME 5015 [66] | ASCENT_Black_1001110010111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:09:13 FRAME 5029 [67] | ASCENT_Black_1001110100101 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:10:07 FRAME 5047 [68] | ASCENT_Black_1001110110111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:11:02 FRAME 5066 [69] | ASCENT_Black_1001111001010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:13:23 FRAME 5135 [70] | ASCENT_Black_1010000001111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:15:23 FRAME 5183 [71] | ASCENT_Black_1010000111111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:16:01 FRAME 5185 [72] | ASCENT_Black_1010001000001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:18:02 FRAME 5234 [73] | ASCENT_Black_1010001110010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:20:08 FRAME 5288 [74] | ASCENT_Black_1010010101000 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:22:23 FRAME 5351 [75] | ASCENT_Black_1010011100111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:26:19 FRAME 5443 [76] | ASCENT_Black_1010101000011 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:28:23 FRAME 5495 [77] | ASCENT_Black_1010101110111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:30:10 FRAME 5530 [78] | ASCENT_Black_1010110011010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:31:23 FRAME 5567 [79] | ASCENT_Black_1010110111111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:33:23 FRAME 5615 [80] | ASCENT_Black_1010111101111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:34:13 FRAME 5629 [81] | ASCENT_Black_1010111111101 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:35:08 FRAME 5648 [82] | ASCENT_Black_1011000010000 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:36:10 FRAME 5674 [83] | ASCENT_Black_1011000101010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 03:36:23 FRAME 5687 [84] | ASCENT_Black_1011000110111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:40:11 FRAME 5771 [85] | ASCENT_Black_1011010001011 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:47:04 FRAME 5932 [86] | ASCENT_Black_1011100101100 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:05:23 FRAME 6143 [87] | ASCENT_Black_1011111111111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:15:23 FRAME 6383 [88] | ASCENT_Black_1100011101111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:19:10 FRAME 6466 [89] | ASCENT_Black_1100101000010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:20:04 FRAME 6484 [90] | ASCENT_Black_1100101010100 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:21:16 FRAME 6520 [91] | ASCENT_Black_1100101111000 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:22:01 FRAME 6529 [92] | ASCENT_Black_1100110000001 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:23:23 FRAME 6575 [93] | ASCENT_Black_1100110101111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:32:23 FRAME 6791 [94] | ASCENT_Black_1101010000111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:34:02 FRAME 6818 [95] | ASCENT_Black_1101010100010 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 04:48:23 FRAME 7175 [96] | ASCENT_Black_1110000000111 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 05:01:21 FRAME 7245 [97] | ASCENT_Black_1110001001101 (BUY ARTWORK)
Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca buy artwork
MAX COOPER'S ASCENT NFT COLLECTION 05:09:23 FRAME 7439 [98] | ASCENT_Black_1110100001111 (BUY ARTWORK)
news + thoughts

Convolutional neural networks

Thu 17-08-2023

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry. – Richard Feynman

Following up on our Neural network primer column, this month we explore a different kind of network architecture: a convolutional network.

The convolutional network replaces the hidden layer of a fully connected network (FCN) with one or more filters (a kind of neuron that looks at the input within a narrow window).

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Convolutional neural networks. (read)

Even through convolutional networks have far fewer neurons that an FCN, they can perform substantially better for certain kinds of problems, such as sequence motif detection.

Derry, A., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2023) Points of significance: Convolutional neural networks. Nature Methods 20:.

Background reading

Derry, A., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2023) Points of significance: Neural network primer. Nature Methods 20:165–167.

Lever, J., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2016) Points of significance: Logistic regression. Nature Methods 13:541–542.

Neural network primer

Tue 10-01-2023

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. —Francis Bacon

In the first of a series of columns about neural networks, we introduce them with an intuitive approach that draws from our discussion about logistic regression.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Neural network primer. (read)

Simple neural networks are just a chain of linear regressions. And, although neural network models can get very complicated, their essence can be understood in terms of relatively basic principles.

We show how neural network components (neurons) can be arranged in the network and discuss the ideas of hidden layers. Using a simple data set we show how even a 3-neuron neural network can already model relatively complicated data patterns.

Derry, A., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2023) Points of significance: Neural network primer. Nature Methods 20:165–167.

Background reading

Lever, J., Krzywinski, M. & Altman, N. (2016) Points of significance: Logistic regression. Nature Methods 13:541–542.

Cell Genomics cover

Mon 16-01-2023

Our cover on the 11 January 2023 Cell Genomics issue depicts the process of determining the parent-of-origin using differential methylation of alleles at imprinted regions (iDMRs) is imagined as a circuit.

Designed in collaboration with with Carlos Urzua.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Our Cell Genomics cover depicts parent-of-origin assignment as a circuit (volume 3, issue 1, 11 January 2023). (more)

Akbari, V. et al. Parent-of-origin detection and chromosome-scale haplotyping using long-read DNA methylation sequencing and Strand-seq (2023) Cell Genomics 3(1).

Browse my gallery of cover designs.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
A catalogue of my journal and magazine cover designs. (more)

Science Advances cover

Thu 05-01-2023

My cover design on the 6 January 2023 Science Advances issue depicts DNA sequencing read translation in high-dimensional space. The image showss 672 bases of sequencing barcodes generated by three different single-cell RNA sequencing platforms were encoded as oriented triangles on the faces of three 7-dimensional cubes.

More details about the design.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
My Science Advances cover that encodes sequence onto hypercubes (volume 9, issue 1, 6 January 2023). (more)

Kijima, Y. et al. A universal sequencing read interpreter (2023) Science Advances 9.

Browse my gallery of cover designs.

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
A catalogue of my journal and magazine cover designs. (more)

Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring

Thu 17-08-2023

If you sit on the sofa for your entire life, you’re running a higher risk of getting heart disease and cancer. —Alex Honnold, American rock climber

In a follow-up to our Survival analysis — time-to-event data and censoring article, we look at how regression can be used to account for additional risk factors in survival analysis.

We explore accelerated failure time regression (AFTR) and the Cox Proportional Hazards model (Cox PH).

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Nature Methods Points of Significance column: Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring. (read)

Dey, T., Lipsitz, S.R., Cooper, Z., Trinh, Q., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2022) Points of significance: Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring. Nature Methods 19:1513–1515.

Music video for Max Cooper's Ascent

Tue 25-10-2022

My 5-dimensional animation sets the visual stage for Max Cooper's Ascent from the album Unspoken Words. I have previously collaborated with Max on telling a story about infinity for his Yearning for the Infinite album.

I provide a walkthrough the video, describe the animation system I created to generate the frames, and show you all the keyframes

Martin Krzywinski @MKrzywinski mkweb.bcgsc.ca
Frame 4897 from the music video of Max Cooper's Asent.

The video recently premiered on YouTube.

Renders of the full scene are available as NFTs.


© 1999–2023 Martin Krzywinski | contact | Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences CentreBC Cancer Research CenterBC CancerPHSA