Geometric Threads: Artisanal Takes on Pattern, Dimension, and Topology
Through August 21, 2010

In Conjunction with Geometry Playground
Through September 6, 2010

This summer, experience the breadth and beauty of geometry found in traditional and contemporary crafts. Continuing throughout July 2010, the Exploratorium presents Geometric Threads: Artisanal Takes on Pattern, Dimension, and Topology. Explore tessellation through patterns found in quilts, Hawai’ian kapa cloth design, and Moroccan mosaic tiles. Untangle the intricacies of topology looped inside maritime knots and Korean maedeup. Move between dimensions with basket weavers, clothing designers, and upholsterers, and learn how origami artists transform flat shapes into fully realized 3D forms. Discover how similar shapes can give rise to a diversity of artistic expression, from Japanese temari to European lace and crochet.

Through master presentations, skilled artisans illuminate the mathematics inherent in mosaics, origami, and textile arts practiced across the globe. Featured in conjunction with the Exploratorium’s new Geometry Playground exhibition, Geometric Threads continues on most Saturdays through July and August 2010. It is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium.

[Show as slideshow]

Stretch your spatial awareness by watching master craftspeople at work, then try some geometric problem-solving of your own: experiment with paperfolding, tessellating, and more. The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, July 3, 2010
Geometric Threads: Symmetry, Topology, and Handmade History
Noon-4pm
We may think of reuse, recycling, and upcycling as contemporary ideas. But textiles were once made by hand and considered much more valuable than they are today. The folk arts of lacemaking, marlinspike seamanship (ropemaking), and Japanese temari (embroidered balls) produce extraordinary symmetries and pattern; they also evolved as creative solutions for repair or reuse. Crochet, on the other hand, emerged as a less expensive alternative to other forms of lacemaking with the advent of machine-made thread in the early 1800s. Though each of these techniques developed from different needs and influences, they all begin with a simple string or cord, and result in an endless variety of elegant designs. Explore their intertwining geometries with experts and enthusiasts who continue to preserve and evolve these artisanal traditions.

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Geometric Threads: Patterns and Tessellations
Noon-4pm
Tessellations—perfectly fitting patterns of shapes—appear in honeycombs, fish scales, pine cones, and a myriad other natural forms. They are also a popular element in many human-made designs, such as those found in Islamic art and architecture. The complex artistry of Moroccan tile mosaics, quilts, and Hawai’ian kapa cloth (created from the pounded and fermented bark of the paper mulberry tree) reflect a variety of intricate geometric designs. Watch master quilters, an expert tiler, and Hawai’ian kapa cloth artist Wendeanne Ke-aka Stitt skillfully arrange simple shapes to create exquisite patterns—then get a taste for tessellating by fitting fabric shapes together into your own mesmerizing designs.

Saturday, July 17, 2010
Geometric Threads: Moving Between Dimensions
Noon-4pm
The expert artisans who make our clothes and furniture use geometry everyday. See master upholsterer Mike Boloyan and an expert clothing designer share the skills and techniques they use to transform two-dimensional fabrics into striking, three-dimensional pieces of furniture or custom-made couture.

Saturday, July 24, 2010
Geometric Threads: Form and Fold
Noon-4pm
Supplied with 3 or more points and lines, we can make a myriad of shapes called polygons. These closed figures include triangles, pentagons, nonegons, and more. Joined together, polygons create an amazing array of patterns found in nature and in handicrafts such as weaving and origami, the Japanese art of paperfolding. For this special presentation, expert geometer and origami impresario Chris Palmer shares his marvelous techniques for folding elaborate forms in paper and silk, while master weavers demonstrate their skills at interlacing patterns. Between the Folds (2009), by Vanessa Gould, will also be shown. This award-winning documentary explores the creative world of master paperfolders—and features the work of Chris Palmer himself. Should inspiration strike, you’ll have a chance to play with shapes and patterns of your own.

Saturday, July 31, 2010
Geometric Threads: Moving Between Dimensions
Noon-4pm
The expert artisans who make our clothes and furniture use geometry everyday. See master upholsterer Mike Boloyan and an expert clothing designer share the skills and techniques they use to transform two-dimensional fabrics into striking, three-dimensional pieces of furniture or custom-made couture. Afterward, an exploration of cartography will reverse the process—flattening three-dimensional terrain into a two-dimensional map.

Saturday, August 7, 2010
Geometric Threads: Symmetry, Topology, and Handmade History
Noon-4pm
We may think of reuse, recycling, and upcycling as contemporary ideas. But textiles were once made by hand and considered much more valuable than they are today. The folk arts of lacemaking, marlinspike seamanship (ropemaking), and Japanese temari (embroidered balls) produce extraordinary symmetries and pattern; they also evolved as creative solutions for repair or reuse. Crochet, on the other hand, emerged as a less expensive alternative to other forms of lacemaking with the advent of machine-made thread in the early 1800s. Though each of these techniques developed from different needs and influences, they all begin with a simple string or cord, and result in an endless variety of elegant designs. Explore their intertwining geometries with experts and enthusiasts who continue to preserve and evolve these artisanal traditions.

Saturday, August 14, 2010
Geometric Threads: Patterns and Tessellations
Noon-4pm
Tessellations—perfectly fitting patterns of shapes—appear in honeycombs, fish scales, pine cones, and a myriad other natural forms. They are also a popular element in many human-made designs, such as those found in Islamic art and architecture. The complex artistry of Moroccan tile mosaics, quilts, and Hawai’ian kapa cloth (created from the pounded and fermented bark of the paper mulberry tree) reflect a variety of intricate geometric designs. Watch master quilters, an expert tiler, and Hawai’ian kapa cloth artist Wendeanne Ke-aka Stitt skillfully arrange simple shapes to create exquisite patterns—then get a taste for tessellating by fitting fabric shapes together into your own mesmerizing designs.

Saturday, August 21, 2010
Geometric Threads: Forms in Nature
Curved forms and surfaces found in the natural world have long been evoked in art—especially in the textile arts. Crochet, popularized in the 1800s, crafts fabric from yarn or thread, one loop at a time, with the help of a crochet hook. Familiar for its lacelike patterns seen in everyday objects such as sweaters and throws, crochet has also been used to create sculptures and mathematical models of hyperbolic surfaces that recall the ruffled edges of kale or coral. Meet expert fiber artists who not only capture the color and shapes of curvaceous species but who also support their conservation through the re-use of recycled materials. Learn how their one-of-a-kind sculptures are crocheted from plastic bags and other commonplace materials.