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All Is Number
 
All Is Number
2006
hemlock
24 x 24 x 24 inches
(61 x 61 x 61 cm)
$10,000
 
The Pythagorean expression “All is number” is a basic philosophical statement that, at base, everything in the universe reduces to numbers, something possibly not entirely at odds with the quarks, bosons and gluons of modern physics. This first in a new series of sculptures, “All Is Number,” like any other sculpture, is also made up of numbers.

In this case, besides the eight corners, six faces and 12 edges common to all cubes, and among many other things that could be counted, this one is made of (unless I am mistaken):

588 pieces of hemlock 23 ½" x ½" x ½" (with 1176 exposed ends)
6912 enclosed little spaces (½" x ½" x ½") - the makings of a border-crossing nightmare
5838 `glue spots’ (I use Titebond II glue.)
10,910 exposed surfaces (depending on how you count, but all needing finishing)

In total, of the sculpture’s 7 ½ cubic feet, the wood occupies just under 2 cubic feet and weighs 57.5 lb (588 x 23.5 x ½ x ½) /(12 x 12 x 12)

(Incidently, the final stage of milling the wood for this series required clamps to be applied and released more than 40,000 times, a fact which, when calculated, prompted all the other counting. No wonder that I was tempted to name it either “Hilbert’s Hotel” after the German number theorist who invented the Infinite Hotel Paradox, or “French Polisher’s Nightmare” for obvious reasons.) As it could look in your home

For information on Purchasing please contact the artist.
 
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