Celebrating Year One of Verticalix

Verticalix 1
© Cabeto

Verticalix is one year old. Verticalix is the fourth collection in the series of Parametric Sculptures This collection was started a year ago while waiting for my connecting flight at Newark International Airport during delays caused by snow storms. I created the first sculpture in this series as a parametric variation from Octohedrix but very soon the variations started to grow to become its own collection. Verticalix is now standing with more than 200 original designs

The Strange Magic of Some Numbers

  

Octohedrix 3
© Cabeto


A new year starts today with a very special number January 1st of 2011: 1/1/11. It is now 1:11 AM and it is the first day of many interesting ones this year. The next time we will see this date will be on January 1st of 2111 in exactly 100 years.There are quite a few more days like this in this year as well.

Here I am showing the image of Octohedrix 3, originaly modeled on September 29 of 2009, on what was perhaps the most special day on that year. I don't really remember the time but it was perhaps around 3:30 PM, perhaps just another coincidence. Octohedrix 3 is a very important design in the collection since it showed me that a parametric model can be very powerful.

The Sophistication of Simplicity



Crownix X
© Cabeto

People often ask me where does sophistication of simplicity come from? It comes from the idea in nature all beautiful and complex things are actually very simple. It is often the result of simple rules applied in a very efficient way what generates complex results, and sometimes for no particular reason. Take for example snowflakes

I am fascinated by the way nature follows this process and I try to capture it in my sculptures through parametric models and variations. I use simple geometrical relations and basic rules of symmetry to create complex and intriguing forms. People find my work striking and enchanting. I find it extremely pleasing.

Parametric Winter

 

Octohedrix 2
© Cabeto

Parametric Winter is the name of my first anthology with the Octohedrix series done during the fall of 2009 and winter of 2010 in Washington DC. The name was inspired by watching the snow through my window when I was exploring the complex geometrical variations in my models during one of the worst snow blizzards in the last century. Zillions of tiny snowflakes where falling from the sky when I created the name Parametric Winter as an analogy of my creative process and to remind me of how nature creates incredible diversity from very simple rules.

More than 30 inches of snow where piled on the ground and my little son could not resist going out to enjoy this feast. While he was playing in the snow, I was watching him through a window in the comfort of my house playing with geometry and parameters in my computer. Is this some kind of coincidence or perhaps it was meant to be?

Un Invierno Parametrico

Octohedrix 12
© Cabeto

Un Invierno Parametrico es el titulo de mi tercera coleccion de formas creadas con modelos parametricos.  El titulo sirve de inspiracion para mi proceso creativo basado en la naturaleza, y a la vez como una alegoria con la generacion de cristales de nieve. Invierno Parametrico me recuerda las gradiosas tormentas de nieve que acosaron mi ciudad durante el invierno de 2010. La nieve caia sin cesar por dias enteros acumulandose a montones por las calles y aceras. Mientras mi hijo se deleitaba jugando con la nieve afuera, yo jugaba con formas parametricas en mi computadora. Pareciera que todo el universo conspira para que esta creacion sucediera. Nada es casual...

La Magia de la Geometria





Octohedrix 46
© Cabeto

Para mi hacer modelos parametricos es como hacer magia. Con solo algunas reglas y variaciones geometricas es posible la generacion de miles de formas que solo existen en mi mente y que con mucho ingenio y un algo de suerte logro traer a esta realidad.

Como artista soy responsable del manejo inicial del modelo parametrico y sus variables, pero de inmediato dejo que la imaginacion tome control y me lleve a un mundo donde nuevas formas emergen como naipes en un acto de magia.  



A New Kind of Art?

 

Octohedrix 45
© Cabeto

I believe that art must invent new paths in order to exist. In my case this is expressed by the ideas of formal abstraction that emerge in my designs through manipulation of simple geometry. In this realm I find myself more interested in the underlying rules that generate my designs rather than the results of them. I prefer plastic discovery through research than the figurative expression or the uncontrolled randomization. Having chosen this path I long search for all possible outcomes from this process. So far I have found close to 10,000 new forms from the first few parametric models; and will continue on this search until exhausted, either the parametric model or the artist. Is this perhaps a New Kind of Art?

My Art

 

Octohedrix 4
© Cabeto

My art is an adventure into the unknown world of new forms. By using parametric models I am able to create new spatial configurations based on simple rules and basic geometrical operations. This process is intriguing, exciting, captivating, stimulating, and mesmerizing. Through this exploration I am able to discover a fascinating world of new forms that do not exist until I reveal them. Every piece that I create is not an end product, but an instance on this endless journey of geometrical transformations from the initial shapes. Each sculpture is the evidence of the moment of discovery. It exists because I found it and at the same time it is the evidence that it was found.

My Work



 

Octohedrix 5
© Cabeto

My work is unpredictable yet controlled, random yet ruled, foreseeable yet surprising. I am delighted when I play with simple geometry to create complex forms. My interest is in finding all the possible forsms that can emerge from variations of simple parameters. Although this is a controlled process I am often surprised by what emerges from the parametric model. Each piece is an instance on a very large universe of possible designs based on geometrical variations that I control. I feel a sense of wonder and fascination by what I discover when using just simple rules and their variations.  My sculptures are sophisticated, magnificent, intriguing, and above all unique.

Inspiration



Octohedrix 117
© Cabeto

I am inspired by natural processes that create beautiful forms like snowflakes or clouds. I believe in complexity that comes from application of simple rules. I also believe in controlling the possible variations where a myriad of new designs will emerge under the right conditions. I believe in a process where constituents are the same but each instance is a unique creation. It is an adventure into the unknown, but filled with joy at every moment.