Spines

Sculpture; at MIT, 2019
Acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection

This project is as a series of explorations that combines robotic fabrication with traditional hand-craftsmanship to push the material potentials of wood. It is an ambiguous artifact that deliberately confuses the viewer by offering sharply disparate readings from different angles. Metaphorically, it questions how perspectives shape our perception of narratives in potentially polarized ways.

Through a particular idiosyncrasy in mathematical geometry, two hyperbolic paraboloids are constructed through straight lines and discretised planar surfaces. Here, the “spine” becomes the site where these lines collide on a doubly curved surface. Crafted from wood veneer and a powder-printed shell, the piece meticulously resolves edge conditions with delicate joinery, inviting the viewer to touch, engage, and investigate.

I. Surface

II. Discretization

III. Conceptual Detail of Joinery

Special thanks to instructor J Jih