Blog – How to cut a cube into sevenths?
When I graduated from art
school last year, an instructor left me these words: try to incorporate science
in my art endeavours. After some
rumination, I came up with this: How to
cut a cube into sevenths, cardboard, 103 x 81 cm, 2021.
I know I shouldn’t be
specific when talking about artwork --- better be vague so the viewer can
ponder more and stay longer. But this is
also about math, so forgive me for babbling here.
The question is: how to
cut a cube in sevenths? It’s rather
simple: start from any point on the perimeter of the square (the present
artwork starts with a corner), measure 1/7 of the perimeter length, make a mark
and repeat. Then connect the marks to
the centre of the square. Finish.
This may not accord with
your intuition. Let’s revisit our
secondary school math: how to calculate the area of a triangle? The area is half x base x height. Now the height is constant --- half the
length of the square. The base is given
and is also constant --- 1/7 of the perimeter length. (For the corner pieces, consider them as
being made up of two triangles, whose height is half the length of square and
whose total base length is 1/7 of perimeter.)
Thus, even though the 7 pieces are not all of the same shape, they have
the same area. Since the depth is
constant, their volumes are all equal.
With the math solved,
let’s talk about the artwork. It’s made
from cardboard and no paint has been used.
So you are looking at colours that come naturally with the cardboard.
First, the black is
intended to give a 3-D effect.
I also used some cardboard
with non-solid colours. You will notice
the ‘blanks’ sitting at the back of the words and figures on cardboard. This lets a sense of space and translucence
to emerge. At the same time, each
(straight) line you see can be geometrically traced. Some of the lines are surplus, i.e. more than
expected, enabling a hint of the original, uncut cube. Inadvertently they also produce some
‘flattening’ effect.
Now that we’ve revisited
old math, let’s attempt this: replace the square (cube) with a rectangle
(cuboid). How would you divide it into
sevenths? [Hint: start from a corner,
pick say the long side and mark it into sevenths. Do the same for the other. Repeat this for the short sides.]
Boon LEE
8-2-2021
[copyright reserved]