Form Evolution: From Nature to Polyhedra to Sculpture

R. A. Wiggs

Journal for geometry and graphics, Tome 2 (1998) no. 2, pp. 161-168

Résumé

This paper written by a sculptor describes a polyhedral generating process from primitive line units that inspires forms of art: A collection of slides and sketches of natural patterns had its beginning more than thirty years ago as a visual aid for teaching drawing and sculpture. As the collection grew, cataloguing became necessary. Spatial patterns were detected that repeated themselves even though a wide range of materials were represented - a drying mud puddle cracked like a turtle's back - like pine tree bark - like cloud systems. These patterns have become a source of information for generating families of polyhedra and for producing many pieces of sculpture.