Why Wood?

To some, the vagaries of wood appearance may seem to defeat the purpose of rendering mathematical surfaces into artful creations. Wouldn't the consistency in appearance of metals, ceramics, or plastics be better suited to these abstract forms which are purely determined by mathematical equations?

Here is a sample of types of wood, mostly exotic, showing, first, how there is a great variety among wood types in their overall look and, second, how for any given type the grain and coloration is nearly continuous varying. For developing a good appreciation of the variety of wood types, visit web sites such as Sawdust Making. Choosing wood materials for rendering mathematical figures introduces a completely different and separate element to the final product. The result is a visually interesting contrast between the perfectly abstract and smooth mathematical shape and the subelements of wood pieces with their varying patterns. The overall effect is to introduce another full dimension to the finished work, a richly textured and warm dimension which cannot easily be achieved in plastic, ceramics, or metal. By using more than one type of wood, especially if there are stunning differences among the woods chosen, even another dimension is produced. The composite photograph below shows realizations of a sphere in the four materials I have discussed.

Wood has several characteristics that make it desirable for rendering mathematical figures, and these characteristics are the reasons it is used for so many products, both artistic and utilitarian. Wood has the properties of strength, light weight, and relative ease of working. Wood strength is more than sufficient to make stable and long-lasting mathematical figures. Wood weight, relative to metals, ceramics, and plastics, is less and is favorable for making even large figures. Wood can be easily worked in most cases; and experience with different wood types leads to the skills necessary to optimize the use of each type. Although the grain makeup and other physical characteristics of wood will often cause it to be inferior to metals or plastics for rendering with precision a mathematical figure, these can often be controlled. The advantages for the visual effect of the finished piece usually outweigh whatever deficiencies occur in the use of wood as opposed to other materials. Of course, if an artist or craftsman wishes to present a certain effect not achievable in wood, metals, glasses, or plastics may be the preferred choice.

A review of the wood sculpture work of George Hart

Sculpture artist George W. Hart has created some very amazing and intriguing 3-D sculptures using several media, such as wood, metal, plastic.  Designs are obviously computer generated in most cases and reflect an inherent ability to visualize in 3-D.  The intricacy of assemblage is especially notable, as many finished works consist of hundreds of parts.

Hart's wood sculptures can be classified into two areas.  The first are those that represent classical mathematical shapes, such as "Leonardo Project" and "Yin & Yang".  In these, the simplicity of the underlying design may be embellished with a choice of contrasting woods to add interest to the work.  The other area of wood sculptures consists of simple to intricate patterned pieces, assembled in complex ways to make approximately spherical sculptures; for example "Snarl", "Dragonflies", and "Gem".  The individual pieces are cut by laser to exacting dimensions to enable the final assembly.  The attractiveness of these works lies in the arrangement of numerous pieces to create a complex 3-D sculpture, not in the wood itself which appears to be simple plywood.   



Hart's iconic wood piece may be the "Roads Untaken",  whose image is reproduced here.   It is an example of a classical mathematical form.  This wood sculpture is a variation of the truncated icosahedron, which is an Archimedean solid.  Wikipedia defines an Archimedean solid thus: "…Archimedean solid is a highly symmetric, semi-regular convex polyhedron composed of two or more types of regular polygons meeting in identical vertices."  The truncated icosahedron is well known by its realization in the soccer balls (football for most of the world).  By using the variation of the basic truncated icosahedron, Hart removes the need to use pentagons and executes the sculpture in only quadrangles and hexagons.  However, the number of faces grows from 32 to 902, indeed adding much complexity to the work.  Hart executes the polygons making up this work in three different exotic wood types: yellowheart, paela, and padauk, thus making a pleasing contrast among them. 

In all, Hart's wooden sculptures have a flair that makes them desirable for collectors or galleries.  They will clearly draw interest in any setting due to their uniqueness, their color and form contrasts, and their unusual artistic concepts.  Visit the George M. Hart website to see this work.