Form & Deformation in Art, Toys and Games

New mathematical approaches, such as shape analysis and computational anatomy, can be applied to growth and form in a variety of complex living and inanimate systems. Mathematical tools have the capacity to revolutionise a whole range of inter-disciplinary problems, from image analysis to medical diagnosis, from study of paintings to mechanical toys and games. Indeed, mathematical approaches, including those of nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, fractal analysis, fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interactions, have, in recent decades, been brought to bear on a whole range of cross disciplinary problems, until recently outside the scope of physics: from visual to performing arts and from children’s puzzles to physical aspects of sport. The emergence of form in art and the properties and role of form in finished artworks includes the mathematical and physical aspects of artistic processes and techniques. These issues are at the interface between science and art. Applications of physi