Combinatorics and order as a foundation of creativity, information organization and art in the work of Wilhelm Ostwald

The physical chemist and 1909 Nobel laureate Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) developed broad and multifaceted interests in philosophy (of nature), history (of science) as well as color theory and the international organization of scholarly work. Applying combinatorics, which grew out of his philosophy of nature and which was viewed by Ostwald as a basis for creativity, Ostwald developed a theory of forms and colors. His work influenced marginally the activities of such movements in art like the German Werkbund, the Dutch De Stijl, and the Bauhaus. This poster upports a today more and more visible connection between "in-formation", education as well as art and design. Poster at the conference "Analogous spaces - architecture and the space of information, intellect and action", 15-17 May 2008, Ghent University, Belgium. (http://www.analogousspaces.com