The other day I went to check out the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef on display at the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. The point of it is to raise awareness about the damage the coral reefs of the world are sustaining. So why crochet? According to an article published by Time Out New York, mathematicians thought that hyperbolic geometry could not be reproduced. But then in 1997 Cornell researcher Daina Taimina discovered that it could be reproduced in crochet. I have to say that is just brillant. Go Daina!
The project is sponsored by the Institute for Figuring. The reef on display at the Winter Garden was crocheted by people from Chicago, the NYC Crochet Guild, and the Harlem Knitting Circle. According to the IFF’s web site, people can still contribute models. I really have to learn how to crochet because I would love to contribute. It would be so cool to have some of your handiwork displayed in a museum or other public place, other than on my head.
It should be noted that the listings for the display in Time Out New York’s Around Town section describe it as “massive.” Based on this I assumed it would take up all of the display areas in the Winter Garden. It actually takes up about a third of the available display area. However, when you consider the number of crocheted items and the amount of time that went into the display, it definately is “massive.”
The display runs through August 31st. Other than the fact that it is a really interesting display, you might want to go so you can run into some other fibery type people. Hub and I met two lovely ladies while we were there. We talked about yarn stores, digital cameras,the Bronx, Peter Cooper Village, and podcasts. It was so nice to meet and chat with them.
For anyone who has not been exploring the joys of knitting podcasts, you can start at ITunes. Or with my favorite podcast, Stash and Burn.
Hub gets all the credit for the photos. Thanks Hub!
