The principal component of Forum 64 is "H_edge", an installation consisting of approximately 6,000 aluminum plates suspended between stainless-steel chains. The plates appear to hang like metallic ivy, but closer inspection reveals that the panels stand from the floor. This “trick” allows for "H_edge" segments to create a mazelike structure that is surprisingly sturdy and is further animated by light and reflections.
“"H_edge" appeals to the core historic mission of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh: the advancement of art and science,” said Raymund Ryan, architecture curator at Carnegie Museum of Art and curator for Forum 64. “Furthermore, Balmond achieves the remarkable feat of designing structures that avail themselves of contemporary technology and thinking yet are also inspired by patterns found in nature and in ancient cultures from around the globe.”
Forum 64 supplements "H_edge" with a suite of six light boxes that illustrate the principles used by Balmond for such innovative structures as "The Spiral" proposal for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (with architect Daniel Libeskind), the 2002 Serpentine Pavilion in London (with architect Toyo Ito), and the 'Pedro e Inês Footbridge' in Coimbra, Portugal. Making reference to a broad spectrum of examples—from Renaissance geometry to microscopic biology—each of the light boxes explores a different theme: numbers, geometry, proportion, evolutionary form, time, and equilibrium. Short film clips embedded within the light boxes further elucidate Balmond’s thinking and the myriad influences that inspire his work.
Developed by Balmond and the "AGU H_edge" was presented at Artists Space, New York , in 2006, built with graduate students at Pennsylvania University . Subsequently exhibited in Louisiana in 2007 and at the Graham Foundation, Chicago in 2008. In Pittsburgh , "H_edge" will extend like a delicate labyrinth from the Forum Gallery into immediate areas of the Scaife Lobby. The design of "H_edge" is not merely a feat of assembly. It is predicated on complex mathematical theories of the fractal, "Cantor Dust", and the "Menger Sponge". As Balmond explains in short films embedded within the light boxes, the fractal “is a geometric idea that repeats at different scales.” "Cantor Dust" and the "Menger Sponge" are three-dimensional fractals.
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