The Institute For Figuring // Exhibition: Machine Project, July 2005



	About Exhibitions Events Bookstore Online Exhibits Coral Reef Contact Donate
	Exhibitions CURRENT: The Crochet Coral Reef is constantly on display. See here for current, future, and past exhibitions of the Crochet Coral Reef. PAST: PLASTIC ENTANGLEMENTS: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials @ Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison September 13, 2019 – January 5, 2020 @ Smith College Museum of Art, New Hampshire February 8 – July 28, 2019 @ Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon September 22 – December 30, 2018 @ Palmer Art Museum, University of Pennsylvania February 13 – June 17th, 2018 TRADE MARKINGS: Frontier Imaginaries Ed. No. 5 @ Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands April 7 – July 1, 2018 EXPLODE EVERY DAY: An Inquiry into the Phenomenon of Wonder @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA May 28, 2016 – February 28, 2017 Crochet Coral Reef @ the University of California, Santa Cruz February 10 – May 6, 2017 Crochet Coral Reef @ Museum of Arts and Design, New York September 15, 2016 – January 22, 2017 Night Begins the Day @ the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco June 18 – Sept 20, 2015 Crochet Coral Reef @ Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX February 12 – April 26, 2015 Crochet Coral Reef @ New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, UAE September 28 – December 5, 2014 making space @ Google Venice Offices, Los Angeles October 2013 – February 2014 Science + Art Residency: Being Formed @ Institute For Figuring, Los Angeles July – December, 2013 An Alternative Guide to the Universe @ Hayward Gallery, London June 11 – August 26, 2013 Out of Fashion @ GL Holtegaard Museum, Copenhagen April 2013 – Jan 2014 making space @ Institute For Figuring, Los Angeles December 15, 2012 – June 29, 2013 Physics on the Fringe @ Institute For Figuring, Los Angeles April 14 – November 10, 2012 Mosely Snowflake Sponge Exhibition @ The USC Libraries September 20, 2012 – January 30, 2013 Midden Project @ The New Children's Museum, San Diego, CA October 15, 2011 –September 15, 2013 The Logic Alphabet of Shea Zellweger @ The Museum of Jurassic Technology Opening reception March 3, 2007 – March 3, 2012 IFF @ The Walker Art Center April 24 – September 29, 2009 Inventing Kindergarten @ Art Center College of Design, Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery October 13, 2006 – January 7, 2007 Hyperbolic Cactus Garden + Hyperbolic Kelp Garden @ Fair Exhange, during the LA County Fair, Pomona Fairgrounds September 8 – October 1, 2006 The Business Card Menger Sponge @ Machine Project, Los Angeles Los Angeles – August 26 – September 24, 2006 Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane @ Machine Project, Los Angeles Los Angeles – July 2005 Philosophical Toys @ Apex Art, New York June/July 2005 Lithium Legs and Apocalyptic Photons @ The Santa Monica Museum of Art April 20 – June 9, 2002 Crochet Coral Reef Exhibitions Hyperbolic: Reefs, Rubbish, and Reason @ The Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA June 6 – August 21, 2011 Crochet Reef @ The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC October 16, 2010 – April 24, 2011 Crochet Reef @ The Science Gallery, Dublin March 20, 2010 – June 11, 2010 The IFF "Bleached Reef" @ The National Design Triennial at the Cooper-Hewitt, NYC May 14, 2010 – January 9, 2011 Crochet Cactus Garden Jackson Hole, WY June 26 – September 28, 2009 Crochet Reef Scottsdale, AZ April 11 – July 11, 2009 Crochet Reef Show @ Track 16 in Los Angeles Jan 10 – Feb 28, 2009 New York and Chicago Reefs Staten Island Sept 27 – Dec 20, 2008 UK Reef Tour Autumn 2008 Plastic Exploding Inevitable Reef San Francisco Sept 7 – Oct 3, 2008 Crochet Reef Symposium @ Southbank Center Friday June 13, 2008 Crochet Reef London June 11 – August 17, 2008 Crochet Reef New York April 6 – May 18, 2008 The Crochet Cactus Garden @ The Wignall Museum, Chaffey College January 29 – March 1, 2008 The Crochet Cactus Garden @ The David Weinberg Gallery October 26 – December 29, 2007 The Crochet Coral Reef @ The Chicago Cultural Center October 13 – December 16, 2007 The Crochet Coral Reef @ The Andy Warhol Museum March 11 – June 17, 2007	Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane July 16 – August 14, 2005 Machine Project (Los Angeles) A collaboration between the Institute For Figuring and Machine Project Curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim Machine Project Gallery Gallery Talk: Sunday August 7, by mathematician Daina Taimina Crochet Workshop: Sunday August 7, 4 pm Hyberbolic Exhibition Catalog: designed by Kimberly Varella and Margaret Wertheim

		Crochet models of the hyperbolic plane invented by mathematician Daina Taimina The Instititute For Figuring collection.
		Until the nineteenth century, mathematicians knew about only two kinds of geometry: the Euclidean plane and the sphere. It was a deep shock to their community to find that there existed a completely other spatial structure, one whose existence was only discerned by overturning a two-thousand-year-old prejudice about “parallel” lines. The discovery of hyperbolic space in the 1820’s and 1830’s marked a turning point in mathematics and initiated the formal study of non-Euclidean geometry. Almost two centuries later, Daina Taimina a mathematician at Cornell University made a physical model of the hyperbolic plane – a feat many mathematicians had believed was impossible – using crochet. With hook and yarn the properties of this unique space become manifest to our eyes and hands, enabling tactile exploration of a structure once thought impossible. This exhibition presents a collection of crochet models demonstrating the various mathematical qualities of hyperbolic space. The exhibition catalog itself has been designed as a hyperbolic book. At a hands-on workshop on the opening night visitors can construct their own catalogs. For more information about hyperbolic space and crochet see the IFF's online exhibit and documentation of the Machine Project exhibition. See also the Los Angeles Times review.

		Crocheted model of a pseudosphere- hyperbolic radius 4 centimeters.	Crocheted model of a hyperbolic plane.
© 2003–2018 The Institute For Figuring