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Stewart Dickson 23115 Bluebird Drive Calabasas, CA 91302 (818)223-9117 Stewart.Dickson@disney.comContact: The Williams Gallery.
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Circles Oriented at the Vertices and Edges of a Octahedron,
Mathematica computer rendering, (c) 1990 Stewart Dickson.
This is the first step in the construction of a smoothed modular hull based upon a lattice made of units derived from the Platonic Solids.
Hardware/Software used: The Mathematica system for doing Mathematics by computer, Sun 3/160.
Octahedral Circular Arcs Truncated at their Intersections,
Mathematica computer rendering, (c) 1990 Stewart Dickson.
This is the second step in the construction of a smoothed modular hull based upon a lattice made of units derived from the Platonic Solids.
Hardware/Software used: The Mathematica system for doing Mathematics by computer, Sun 3/160.
Tessellated Six-Arc Boundaries
which form the Octahedral Lattice Unit,
computer rendering, (c) Stewart Dickson 1986.
This is the fundamental unit of an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of cubic lattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to an octahedron with its vertices removed. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.
Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics by computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Silicon Graphics Personal Iris 4D/25TG.
Geodesic Octahedron,
Mathematica computer visualization, (c) Stewart Dickson 1990.
This is the fundamental unit of an approximation of an Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface of octahedral lattice topology. It is constructed by repeated instances of a smoothed, triangulated surface patch unit. The basic sub-assembly is homeomorphic to an octahedron with its vertices removed. The surface in the slide has been closed with geodesic hemispheres. The construction process is theoretically infinite and is a geodesic structure of non-spherical topology. The infinite variety of possible designs has a very organic quality.
More information on the construction scheme can be found in: Dickson, Stewart; "Graphics Gallery: Many-Handled Surfaces", The Mathematica Journal, pp. 51-58, Volume 1, Issue 4, (Spring, 1991) Addison-Wesley, Publishers.
Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a DEC pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Sun 3/160.
Eight Instances of the Smoothed Octahedral Lattice Unit,
Mathematica Graphics3D[],
(c) 1990 Stewart Dickson.
This is the basic way in which designs begin based upon the octahedral Infinite, Periodic Minimal Surface unit. Proposed designs range from four to hundreds of feet in height. The Artist has researched and developed the methods for reproducing the structure via the more traditional means of fiberglass fabrication and using the same methods as are used in building architectural Geodesic Domes.
Software/Hardware used: Form originally developed on a pdp11/40 using Tom DeFanti's GRASS, later adapted to Wavefront Advanced Visualizer modeling environment and the Mathematica system for doing mathematics on the computer with C-language enhancements by Stewart Dickson. Computing hardware: Silicon Graphics Personal Iris 4D/25TG.
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