Wednesday 4 June 2008

Hyperbolic crochet arrives in London

As I am going to be away for the next 2 weeks I thought I better get my important posts out the way. Wednesday 11 June at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank in London sees the opening of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef which I've posted about several times. My first visit on behalf of Loop will be on Monday 23 June and I'm looking forward to getting acquainted with this project which has a massive following from across the globe.

The theories behind the idea of hyperbolic crochet are mathematical and I would not even begin to try and write about it so here are the experts. The realisation that crochet has strong mathematical principles intertwined with it has a long tradition and many mathematicians have used it and other creative forms to demonstrate their projections.The Lorenz Manifold is the work of two mathematicians, Osinga and Krauskopf from the University of Bristol. The movement to extend the 'fibre arts' to demonstrate mathematical theory was gaining ground with mathematicians such as Carolyn Yackel, an assistant math professor at Mercer University in Atlanta. “Crochet, knitting and other crafts allow people to visualize, recontextualize and develop new problems and answers ". The crochet reef is just such an opportunity and here it is in London!!!

I have published quite a few examples of the reef, courtesy of such designers like Helle Jorgensen, who are involved in the exhibition but I'm going to finish with a designer from Portugal who moves it into the realm of jewellery. Maria of Kjoo sells her work on Etsy and publishes her pictures on flikr. I like the way that her work brings the idea full circle. Craft becomes theory, philosophy and returns to craft. We can all agree with that!!!

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