Blog Archive

crochet coral reef - 2009-05-28

I was doing some googling on innovative public art today when I found a huge crocheted coral reef. It really looks like coral! We are truly a global community.

From www.scottsdalecoralreef.com:

Created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring (IFF), the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project is "a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft." The crochet reef has received worldwide acclaim through previous exhibitions in New York, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles.

Based on the techniques of “hyperbolic crochet” discovered by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina, the Institute has evolved a wide taxonomy of crocheted reef-life forms—loopy kelps, fringed anemones, curlicued corals, and tendrilled jellyfish—all made by using these techniques. Over the past three years the Crochet Reef has grown into a vast installation involving many thousands of models and dozens of aesthetically distinct “sub-reefs” that now occupy thousands of square feet of exhibition space.