Thirteenski (2006)
Douglas McKenna (UCB)

PostScript / Giclee print
While at first glance this piece has an ornamental, almost folk-art, carved look, "Thirteenski" is actually based upon a fractal construction discovered in 2006. The underlying geometry is a hierarchical multitude of square tiles of a few different sizes, mirrorings, and orientations. Thirteen repeated linear transformations arrange them into an especially elegant, connected sequence that "threads" a fractal pattern related to a Sierpinski "carpet". Thirteenski is an example of pure abstract form that exhibits a fascinating visual tension between symmetry and asymmetry, as well as pervasive ambiguity between figure and ground. Additionally, the self-avoiding boundary between foreground and background can roughly model physical phenomena, such as convection cells, biological invagination, or the fingering behavior of immiscible liquids under pressure.