Search Results for: dodecahedra

While looking for cool images of dodecahedra – lamps in particular – I found quite a few great examples using google, including this one which has tiny blue lights (LEDs I assume?) along the interior edges.

This led (pun intended) to some other similar neat-looking geometric lamps such as this Rhombic Dodecahedron “Infinity Prism” lamp which also has 12 identical faces, each a rhombus instead of a pentagon in this case.

So, if you happen to be in the general vicinity of San Francisco, California, I have a free dodecahedron lamp with the caveat that it (obviously) needs repair since it didn’t survive a gravity-induced bout with a patio umbrella! It survived a number of moves until we downsized and didn’t have room for it in our current (Oregon) residence, but now needs a good home for a hobbyist, possibly someone with some welding skills. Here’s the content of the ad I posted on Craigslist a few days ago (first come, first serve, of course, since there’s only one of these. :-)

After many moves, and a patio umbrella falling on this one-of-a-kind lamp when in storage, this unique lamp needs repair by someone with welding tools and ability and/or a hobbyist that wants to use the precision-crafted components in some other way, such as a pattern for building a dodecahedron shape – a Platonic Solid made with 12 pentagons – in other media or some other creative ideas. Includes standard lamp sockets, swag chain electrical cord with on-off switch in the middle of the cord. The 30 metal edge pieces are 8″ long; the 12 prismatic translucent plastic pentagon pieces are a little less than 8″ on a side; the finished dodecahedron is about 18″ high.

Here are examples of similar lamps: https://www.google.com/search?q=dodecahedron+lamp … and some of the math for geometric enthusiasts:

https://www.geometrycode.com/free/platonic-solids-fold-up-patterns/#4
https://www.geometrycode.com/free/polyhedra-math-tables-for-platonic-and-archimedean-solids/

If you are interested in this “needs re-assembly” lamp, please contact me. Never mind, it just got picked up by a fellow geometry enthusiast I just met this evening who responded to the Craigslist post. :-)

Over the years, I’ve been fascinated with the exquisite possibilities of using mirrors for the interior faces of polyhedra (particularly Platonic Solids and Archimedean solids, and among those, particularly ones with dodecahedral and icosahedral symmetries.

One of my earliest fun discoveries was the Kaleidoscapes work of colleague Sara Frucht. She showed me some amazing reflected interior spaces made simply by using 3 triangular mirrors with a shared vertex, carefully designed to replicate the interior angles of a variety of polyhedra.

There are a number of other examples I found over the years by other geometric artists and this latest exhibit at Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert, Calif. featuring the geometric artwork of artist Anthony James is quite stunning. I would check it out if I lived closer to southern California! :-) It appears that he’s using uniform edge lighting (probably LED that wasn’t available not too many years ago) and 2-way mirrors to make particularly lovely 3D models that can be viewed from many angles. Here are additional photos and a short video of this exhibit.

I’ve seen other versions (including a dodecahedron at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California several decades ago) which used regular (100% reflective) mirrors for all but one face, with the one “viewing face” either open (affording putting one’s head inside the shape for an even more immersive experience) or with regular glass.

When the Olympics was held in Greece some years ago, I thought it would be a cool attraction (with homage to the home of both Plato and Archimedes for whom their respective polyhedra are credited) to have huge versions of the aforementioned polyhedra big enough to walk inside (perhaps with elevators bringing spectators in and out) and then an additional bonus would be making acoustic recordings inside each of these structures and having a multisensory experience enhanced by the unique acoustic resonances of each structure, much as Paul Horn did with his classic recordings of flute music in the Taj Mahal in India and the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I made a very short recording inside the latter structure in the fall of 1992.

Here’s a video about another seasoned artist (Frank Stella) who has incorporated – appropriately enough, given his last name! – stellated polyhedra in his work.