CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM I – A 3D Study in Platonic Solids

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CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM I.I, 2023
uv cured inkjet on acrylic mounted to composite aluminum and cut out on cnc router

Detail of CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM I.I

CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM I.II, 2023
(orthographic view looking from the top)
uv cured inkjet on acrylic mounted to composite aluminum and cut out on cnc router

CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM I.III, 2023
(orthographic view looking from the side)
uv cured inkjet on acrylic mounted to composite aluminum and cut out on cnc router

CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM is a study of platonic solids, in this instance, the cube and the octahedron. We all know what a cube is and for those who might not know, an octahedron is an 8 faced polyhedron. A polyhedron is simply a solid figure with multiple faces typically with more than 6.

I’ve been going back to my roots as an architect, thinking about the basics of geometry. I loved geometry as a child and knew by the time I was in high school that what I wanted to be was an architect. So working in 3D again, I’m revisiting the platonic solids that so fascinated me early in life.

With CUBUS ET OCTAEDRUM, I started with the thought of turning the square pyramids I’ve been creating made from stepped cubes into an Octahedron which is simply two square pyramids back to back. On a side note, a square pyramid like the Great Pyramid of Giza is not a platonic solid but that’s too complicated to get into here without boring you to tears. Then I wanted to up the stakes and add another platonic solid, the cube that resulted in this intervention of the cube expanding out of the octahedron or it could be looked at as the octahedron growing around the cube. I also sculpted the blocks, carving into them to accept the sloping fins instead of sitting on top of the blocks. The fins connected together form triangles. I also split the octahedron up into 8 individual triangular sections further accentuating these sloping triangles. The views here are; a view from the side in perspective, a view looking looking down directly overhead and an orthographic view from the side.

This has been over a 2 months project, really challenging me and being great therapy to escape from pain. There will be more from this series to come changing up the color schemes. Thanks for indulging me in explaining this.

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Award for Best of Show in for the Inter Society Color Council Exhibition COMPLETELY COLOR: Color and Human Experience as part of the society’s Color Impact 2023 World Conference at Rochester Institute of Technology.

I’m humbled and honored to receive Best of Show Professional Division for my work QUADRAMID V in the exhibition COMPLETELY COLOR: Color and Human Experience as part of the society’s Color Impact 2023 World Conference at Rochester Institute of Technology, June 11 – 15, 2023. Attendees from around the world and from across the spectrum of color professions including Science, Industry, Education and Art & Design gathered for this 5 day conference with keynotes, thought-provoking presentations, hands-on workshops, short courses, field trips, an art exhibition and more.

It wasn’t mandatory but artists in the exhibition were asked to produce a short video statement of which some would be selected to be shown at the conference. I found out that my video was shown as the closeout to the conference and the words in my statement were singled out as part of the decision for my award (see video statement below).

The Inter-Society Color Council advances the knowledge of color as it relates to art, science, industry and design. Each of these fields enriches the others, furthering the general objective of color education.

QUADRAMID V

VIDEO STATEMENT
Inter Society Color Council COMPLETELY COLOR: Color and Human Experience online Exhibition on YouTube. My Statement begins at 8:15
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PYRALUX IV – 3D Derivative – Octahedron – Perspective Top View

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PYRALUX IV, 2023
uv inkjet on acrylic mounted to composite aluminum and cut out on cnc router
48″ x 48″, edition of 3

Screencast of 3D model in Blender

I’ve doubled my Pyralux pyramid with a structure of back to back pyramids in a composition of primary colors and white. Two square pyramids back to back form the platonic solid, the Octahedron. The vertices on the x, y and z axes are in black. About 30 seconds in, the camera travels inside the structure which was a surprise to me when I first saw it as it was designed from the outside and hadn’t thought about what it would look like from the inside.

music: “Ball” composed by Craig Armstrong – soundtrack from Plunkett & Macleane

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