Between words and images of a surreal world: mathematical thoughts in an experience with children and Salvador Dalí

Abstract

The “perspectiva da visualidade em educação matemática” (visuality perspective in mathematics education) was initiated by Flores (2013) as an analysis and broadening strategy of visual research. In this perspective we discuss how our view was historically formed and other ways to think about the relationship between art and math. This article is the writing of an experience with children in their encounter with Salvador Dali’s art, aiming to experience and problematize a non-euclidean geometry in his works. From the oficina-dispositivo (dispositif-workshop) concept, we created a workshop including some aspects from Dali’s works, aiming to provoke visualities and emerge mathematical thoughts as well knowledge. Children of the 5th year of elementary school of Colégio de Aplicação from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina were invited to listen a story of a surreal world and then imagine and create their own world, making collages in egg cartons. The children were concerned about the collage on the corrugated surface and mathematical thoughts were emerged from this strangeness of a non-euclidean geometry. During the workshop we observe narratives that connect the figures deformation to something wrong or ugly, as well tryings to not-deformation of the figures using several strategies. In addition, the workshop actualized a mathematical teaching-learning space from the experience sense, making problematizations with the connection between real and surreal.