Digital Sculpture
Immediate Response:
This image/sculpture at first glance appears to be a white surface or a series of panels that has objects excreting horizontally from the vertical surface. Down the center of this wall is a giant crack that almost appears to ressemble an earthquake, a randomized puzzle piece, or something that has shifted these naturally beautiful excretions seeping out of the cracks. The panels seem flush to the wall and out of the panels are objects growing like fungi but have a very systematic geometric pattern. These repeating objects are different in scale and complexity and are molded to the surface that almost appear by natural means.
Objective Description:
As stated above, this sculpture is constructed on a wall plane, with varying points protruding from the surface. There are cracks in the surface of the plane which appear to be constructed randomly as well as the growth patterns which do not seem to have any regularity or calculated formula. One might suppose that there is a perhaps a connection to a law or geometric pattern based on the sculptures title ‘Rules of Six.’ Again, this work is solid white and creates shades of gray and black from the difference in dimensions from the growths, paired against an almost topographical-like white surface.
Technical Decisions:
Rules of Six is an installation commissioned as part of the Design and Elastic Mind Exhibition at the MOMA in New York. In collaboration with material scientist Mathew Scullin, the project uses new material structures that are not carved or composed by conventional tools but are rather ‘grown’ by interactions with molecules. (www.arandalasch.com/works/rules-of-six/) Three dimensional output from this application was used to produce a large-scale wall relief mounted in the gallery alongside two monitors- one running the simulation ‘live’ and the other displaying a slideshow of actual nanostructures. Rules of Six is designed to multiply indefinitely without recognizing scale, as it is symbolic as the scaling of molecules, rooms, buildings, or communities. The composition is a flat surface stood upright so that the objects can extrude horizontally into space. The software used was processing and Rhino 3D software on panels of painted high-density foam and hydrocal. The title ‘rule of six’ is extremely pertinent to the projects context, in that it is in fact a binding rule of transformation that an algorithm that connects the movement from ‘six’ to ‘no two are alike’.
The Work In The World
This relief sculpture was commissioned for the exhibition concept to engage designers and scientists in a dialogue by addressing their relationship to each other and their role in the culture. Aranda/Lasch’s work deals with science and mathematics with naturally occurring geometries with underlying themes of nature in their work. The Rules of Six explore the molecular processes taken directly from science which also applies to the six-sided snowflake of which no two are alike. This relationship of structure, nature. space and environment are very relevant in our own world’s depletion of natural resources and constantly evolving and changing world. This piece has such a level of ambiguity that allows several rapports to be drawn on with scale and our physical existence at the molecular level.
The Story It Tells
The theme prevalent in a lot of Aranda/Lasch’s work is their exploration of the relationship between structure and space. This duo appear to constantly be searching for patterns present in the natural world and new points of view to transfer into their works- and this work specifically exemplifies the random yet beautiful qualities of nature with sculpture in a natural law combined with technology’s rendering capabilities. The scales explored in this piece are relevant to human existence and our own presence in our surroundings, and this work allow the viewer to engage with the information itself and this relationship with design.
