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| Edmund Harriss, an assistant math professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, shows off a mathematical shape he calls a “curvahedra” that’s similar to a 12-foot sculpture planned for the university’s Honors College. Photo: Andy Shupe |
The work of a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville mathematician now includes a sculpture based on geometrical insights, with preliminary plans for a larger outdoor campus artwork using the same principles.
Edmund Harriss, a UA clinical assistant professor, designed and built a 3-foot tall spherical sculpture made of interlocking flat pieces of steel, a work he calls a "Curvahedra ball." The sculpture, installed Monday, he said, is on display inside UA's Honors College, a wing of Gearhart Hall.
Harriss said he assembled the artwork himself using bolts and hand tools. The steel pieces -- 12 of them, fabricated using a plasma cutter -- were cut identically, with five curved arms each.
"So the total angle within that [shape repeatedly formed by the linking of all 12 pieces] is 216 degrees, rather than what you'd normally expect from a triangle, which would be 180 degrees, and that's why the flat pieces get forced to curve into the ball," Harriss explained, apologizing for what he admitted adds up to an explanation that's "not necessarily so clear."...
His academic work also relates to the visualization of mathematics, and on Friday he said he was preparing to travel to Brown University in Rhode Island to take part in a semester-long program titled Illustrating Mathematics.
Harriss said mathematics can aid with technologies like 3-D printing and help create new manufacturing techniques. The schedule for the program at Brown University includes several public outreach events that emphasize the pairing of mathematics and art.
Mathematics is "an aesthetics-driven subject," Harriss said. But to mathematicians, this can be felt as "a more profound notion than simply looking attractive."
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Source: Arkansas Online
