Middy Potter

Art and Math

An exploration of the wonderful, sometimes humorous shapes

emerging from Middy's study of mathematics

 


Logarithmic Spiral
sheet and tube copper, concrete,
plywood, foam, glass, glaze
18"h x 38"w x 24"d
by Middy Potter

"This is a logarithmic spiral in three dimensions and is related to a Fibonacci spiral and the Golden Ratio (approximately 1.6). This spiral increases by ‘whirling squares’ that grow at about 1.6 times the previous square that bounds the spiral at that point. Many of spirals in nature are logarithmic spirals such as sunflower seed patterns and spiral shells. I think of spirals as a moving point starting with high energy that dissipates with time." -- Middy Potter

August 4 - September 13, 2009


Opening Reception:

Friday, August 7, 7-10 pm

Artist's Talk

Sunday, August 9, 2 pm

 

Also showing are all gallery member-artists, and the following visiting artists:

Ruthanne Baker, John Lilley, Margaret Parker and Pat Truzzi
 
WSG Gallery is proud to present the work of Middy Potter. Each of his pieces is an exploration of the wonderful, sometimes humorous, shapes emerging from his study of math. Spirals and mathematical curves have always held great interest for him, and the sculptural solids he has constructed are not only difficult to build but also startling in size, someweighing as much as 250 pounds. Middy's thoughts in his own words about each of his works are included under each image.
 

Cyclide
sheet and tube copper, concrete,
plywood, foam, glass, glaze
12"h x 20" diameter
by Middy Potter

"A French navel engineer, Charles Dupin, discovered the cyclides while in college. Dupin published a treatise on differential geometry in 1813 that included 'Dupin’s Cyclides'. Cyclides are a modification of a torus (think donuts) -- the modification called an inversion. This particular cyclide is an inversion of a horn torus (think of a donut where the hole just approaches zero).
This cyclide was cast in two halves using strengthened concrete." -- Middy Potter 		 
Rose Mosaic
cast concrete, glass
9.5"h x 19" diameter
by Middy Potter

"This mosaic is a four leaf rose projected on a hemisphere using polar coordinates. Remember that polar coordinates use concentric circles combined with spokes representing angles from 0 to 360 degrees. The polar equation of this rose is : radius = 4 times cos 2 times the angle." -- Middy Potter
 

 

 


Elliptic Hyperboloid
brazing rod, silver solder, paint
32"h x 34"w x 19"d
by Middy Potter

"This piece is an elliptic hyperboloid using 'rod' construction with the top and bottom formed as ellipses. The simple three dimensional equation, x squared/ a squared + y squared/ b squared – z squared/c squared = 1, provides this shape. An example of a regular (circular) hyperboloid is a nuclear power plant cooling tower.
Originally I set out to make a solid shape using fiberglass cloth but discovered the interesting spring quality of the rod construction.." -- Middy Potter

 


Fused cones
concrete and glass
4 feet long x 18" diameter
by Middy Potter

"A conical spiral covers the external surface of the fused cones. Of course cones are very cool. The study of spirals is most interesting; many types of spirals exist. A polar equation describes spirals: radius = a times the polar angle raised to the a constant of 1 over N. The constant N determines how tightly the spiral is bent around the center point." -- Middy Potter
   


Ornamental Cube
plywood, wood, plastic, metal, paint
12"h x 12"w x 12"d
by Middy Potter

"This is a cube of ornamental proportions, one of the five Platonic Solids that are convex polyhedra with uniform sides. They include the tetrahedron (four equilateral triangles), the octahedron (eight equilateral triangles), the hexahedron aka the cube (six squares), the icosahedron (twenty equilateral triangles), and the dodecahedron twelve pentagons).
I like the cube sitting on one it’s corners- it seems unusual to see a cube in an unstable position." -- Middy Potter

 


Not a regular Platonic Solid
plywood, sugar pine, metal and paint
23"h x 8"w x 8"d
by Middy Potter

"This octahedron would have been a Platonic Solid if all of the edges were equal in length and the eight sides were equilateral triangles. I prefer the look of stretched sides to make isosceles triangles.." -- Middy Potter

 

 

  

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