Communal Kniticisms
By Tom Wachunas
EXHIBIT: Crochetral: Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef – a
collaborative project by faculty and students of Malone University Departments
of Visual Arts and Mathematics and Computer Science, on view THROUGH SEPTEMBER 21,
2015, at Malone University’s McFadden Gallery (located in Johnson Center) and
Art-in-a-Case, in the Cattell Library / 2600 Cleveland Avenue N.W., Canton,
Ohio – open for viewing Monday-Friday during regular business hours
“Mathematics is not scary
when you can touch it.” -
mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina
“The
Crochet Coral Reef is a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher
geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders
of the marine world.” - from the
website for Crochet Coral Reef, a
project originally created and curated in 2005 by Christine Wertheim and
Margaret Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring.
Also from the same
website, the following:
The inspiration for making
crochet reef forms begins with the technique of "hyperbolic crochet"
discovered in 1997 by Cornell University mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina. The
Wertheim sisters adopted Dr Taimina's techniques and elaborated upon them to
develop a whole taxonomy of reef-life forms. Loopy "kelps", fringed
"anemones", crenelated "sea slugs", and curlicued
"corals" have all been modeled with these methods. The basic process
for making these forms is a simple pattern or algorithm, which on its own
produces a mathematically pure shape, but by varying or mutating this
algorithm, endless variations and permutations of shape and form can be
produced. The Crochet Reef project thus becomes an on-going evolutionary
experiment in which the worldwide community of Reefers brings into being an
ever-evolving crochet "tree of life."
Consider ALL of the
above as a necessary introduction to
fully appreciate the scope and intent of this exhibit. I strongly recommend
clicking on the web link. And wait, there’s more. The statement posted with the
show tells us that as part of the crocheting process, the contributors
“…explored the math of hyperbolic space.” To that end, I give you this
additional link to a 1997 video of Dr. Daina Taimina explaining her application
of hyperbolic surface theory to the art of crochet. It’s highly entertaining,
and despite the somewhat arcane content, you need not be a math savant to get
the essentials.
Further, from Merriam-Webster.com, here’s a definition of Hyperbolic
Geometry: “geometry
that adopts all of Euclid's axioms except the parallel axiom, this being
replaced by the axiom that through any point in a plane there pass more lines
than one that do not intersect a given line in the plane.” Everyone got that? And just for good
measure, let me add that (according to my less than exhaustive online research)
hyperbolic surface theory addresses, among other things, the geometry of “saddle
surfaces” (i.e., surfaces/planes curved or bent into saddle-like shapes) with a
“constant negative Gaussian curvature.” Well now, that explains everything, right?
Perhaps knot. But
the overarching point here is that this intriguing exhibit, while not an official "satellite reef" of the Crochet Reef Project, can nontheless be seen in solidarity with a growing world-wide movement that effectively merges
science, mathematics and aesthetics to illuminate the ongoing threats to such
precious and spectacular locales as the Great Barrier Reef. By extension, consider
it in the context of a colorful global call to elevated planetary stewardship.
The installation at the McFadden Gallery is
comprised of several discrete works mounted on pedestals (with one wall-mounted
piece suggesting fish trapped in floating plastic detritus), representing
clusters of “reef citizens” (corals, fish, plants, etc). While some of the
individual components of these pieces are clearly more sophisticated in their
construction than others (these aren’t, after all, your grandma’s scarves, hats,
or afghans), each of the crocheted communities exudes a naturalistic
cohesiveness.
For this project,
Malone’s Li Hertzi required a short paper from her 3D Design students. One of
the optional topics she proposed was to discuss how “…the social impact of yarn
bombing and performance art…can change people’s thinking.” “Yarn bombing”? Sometimes called “guerilla knitting,” it’s a
growing form of street art that began appearing in various urban settings
roughly around 2003. Think of it as impermanent graffiti. And proposing a
kinship with performance art isn’t such a conceptual stretch, either. Can we
think of crocheting as a metaphor for exploring potentiality, or possibility? In this context, while the act of
knotting and stitching entailed repeated, meticulous motions in real time, the
resultant forms evoke something well beyond themselves as representational
static objects, and something outside the present moment of seeing. I think
that they speak eloquently of something yet to be thought about, something yet
to be done, something yet to be performed.
So in as much as this project asks us
to be proactive performers in protecting what we find so ineffably beautiful
about our natural environs, it’s also a potent reminder that all of us are indeed… reef citizens.
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