Whimsy
Whimsy is a design which I find so fascinating that I made
it in two sizes. There is something visually engaging about
its swirling motion and the way it is not convex even though the
pieces are flat and the vertices are locally convex. The large
negative spaces are also very interesting. Above is the
10-inch diameter version I made first, from laser-cut cherry
wood. The process of fabricating it and something about its
mathematical structure are detailed in this video.
The contrast between the dark laser-cut edge lines and the richness
of the solid cherry adds a special character to this version.
I later was invited to lead a sculpture barn raising at the 2014
Joint Mathematics Meeting in Baltimore and for that I designed a
larger 30-inch diameter version from Baltic birch plywood, which
many participants helped me create. It is shown on this page.
