Jan 14, 2015 | By Kira
Pier 9 Artist-in-Residence John Edmark has created stunning Fibonacci Zoetrope sculptures using nature’s very own ‘golden angle’ and a 3D printer.
The above video shows a series of solid 3D printed sculptures that give the illusion of indefinite, fluid movement due to the way they were filmed. “Each petal on the sculpture is placed at a unique distance from the top-centre of the form,” explains Edmark on his Instructables page. “If you follow what appears to be a single petal as it works its way out and down the sculpture, what you are actually seeing is all the petals on the sculpture in the order of their respective distances from the top-center.”
Edmark explains that to create this illusion, he carefully spun the sculptures at 550 RPMs while videotaping them at 24 fps with a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec. The rotation speed was then carefully synchronized to the camera’s frame rate so that one frame of video is captured every time the sculpture turns 137.5º, a number known as the ‘golden angle.’
The golden angle, based on the golden ratio, appears in geometry as well as in the very nature that surrounds us—picture a pinecone, pineapple, sunflower, or palm tree. The golden angle in these botanicals is used by nature as a growth strategy. In nearly every case, each leaf grows approximately 137.5º around the core from the previous leaf, leading to the formation of mesmerizing spiral patterns (which, not so coincidentally, correspond perfectly with Fibonacci numbers.
“In designing the sculptures, I used essentially the same method employed by nature,” said Edmark.
“Nature is generous and inexhaustible, rewarding curiosity with starting insights and an abundance of ever more beautiful mysteries,” he writes in his artist’s statement, explaining his unique integration of precise mathematics, biological patterns, and astonishing artwork. “Through my work I endeavor to share the joy of discovery with others in a continuing pursuit of the timeless patterns of change.”
The beautiful works shown above were created during Edmark’s time as an Autodesk Pier 9 Artist-in-Residence (AIR). The program allows artists, makers, and fabricators full access to Autodesk products and services, giving them a chance to work in their digital fabrication workshops and to share their cutting-edge projects with the DIY community.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Mesmerizing! Are .STL files available?
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