Homage to Euclid

2006 Installation - Brunner Gallery


Wall Panel 33.75" Tall x 101.75" Wide Framed
(21" x 89" Inside)

Platonic Solids Varied Sizes

No Longer Available

Euclid was a Greek mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt around 325-265 BC.  He is called "the father of Geometry" and is most famous for his 13 books known as The Elements.  He is credited with the PROOF of the 5 polyhedra also known as the Platonic Solids, even though these shapes were known for centuries (the oldest CARVINGS are from Scotland around 1500 BC, carved by NEOLITHIC man), long before there was any math to prove anything.

This installation consists of a large Mahogany Panel which has images, routed into the surface, of each of the 5 Platonic Solids circumscribed within a circle.  They are, from left, the Tetrahedron, Octahedron, Heptahedron, Icosahedron and Dodecahedron, thus named for the number of sides on each shape (4, 8, 6, 20, 10).  And, YES, I realize they're "out of order".  I'll happily show you my Creative License which gives me permission!

In front of the panel are the 5 Platonic Solids in 3-d form.  They are made of mdf & painted black with a lacquer finish.  Imagine blowing up a balloon such that a perfect sphere surrounded each of these objects... each of the vertices would touch the balloon.

I want to give credit to my son, Rodney Tassistro-Drennen.  Together, we figured out the angles (the dihedral angle for the dodecahedron was a killer).  Rodney engineered all these pieces using the design software program he uses for cabinets, and who cut out all the parts, built the frame & glued together the Platonic Shapes.  Without him, this piece would still be just an image in my head.