Cagework 1

George W. Hart

I like the title Cagework 1 for this piece as it suggests some related arts and hints that I may make a series of follow-on pieces. (It also acknowledges that maybe I live in a zoo or nuthouse where I do my work...) This is a seven-inch diameter one-of-a-kind acrylic sculpture assembled from thirty identical laser-cut components. Each part is a kind of S-shape described below. They form an intricately interwoven "cage" which is tricky to capture in a photograph because the parts are a transparent orange. So this opaque computer rendering may better convey its geometric structure, though not its graceful lightness:

There are twelve places where five parts come together to form a sort of orifice that frames an opening into the interior. The following image looks directly into one of these openings:

If you want to conceptualize the form, a good starting point is the "soccer ball" shown below. (Or "football" if you are not in the USA.) There are thirty seams where two white hexagons are adjacent. Under each of the thirty hexagon pairs create one "S" form as crudely sketched here. The precise union of thirty S-parts forms the sculpture. Notice how five parts form a ring surrounding each of the twelve black pentagon openings. Three parts twist together to make a vortex under each white hexagon.

Addendum 2016: I later made a wood version of Cagework.

Copyright 2005, George W. Hart