Coral, Crochet and Hyperbolic Geometry
April 22nd, 2009
Math, specifically Geometry, is sometimes over my head. Even still, this video of Margaret Wertheim discussing Coral, Crochet, and Hyperbolic Geometry, is fascinating on several levels. If math scares you, don’t worry–there’s more discussed than just Geometry. The art installations that they show in the video are gorgeous, and I’m so very glad to see crochet represented in another beautiful form.
As a person who loves math and crochet this does not surprise me…in fact it confirms what i have always believe –women have been taught to be math phobic but intrincisally they see the very patterns that math is based on…. for hundreds of years women have created amazing pattern designs in hand crafts that are all function of numbers. thanks for sharing
Thanks so much for sharing this video link – I’m proud to say that I’ve had the chance to be involved in this project when the reef came to London last year. Myself and my sister both contributed a few pieces of hyperbolic crochet to the reef after attending a workshop lead by Margaret and were so impressed by seeing the UK reef as well as some parts of the larger reef that were also on display.
I loved watching this video – but I also cringed every time Margaret said “feminine handycraft” in her speech. That could just be because I’m a new male crocheter, and haven’t even begun to explore the world of crochet to it’s fullest. The speech also touched on a part of maths that I have always been intrigued by – math that is defied by nature.
As a gal who has always hated math (& continually found myself in jobs that math was a big part of), I must say I found this video very interesting and easy to understand. thanks for posting it.
I have been completely fascinated with hyperbolic crochet for a couple of months now. Many of my newest crochet pieces use this formula. Thank you so much for this excellent video!