The Jirry Tribe Stop Pt.2 — Basmah Felemban

The Jirry Tribe Stop Pt.2, 2021Gessoed plywood panels, laser etching

2D Graph

This series of laser-etched pieces documents the artist’s method of creation, using strings of light and past natural elements as creation scrolls. The pieces show different graphs deconstructed into animated frames from academic papers published by morphology professor Gabor Domokos, who is a constant collaborator with the artist in her world-building process.

The gömböc (pronounced “goemboets”) is an elegant and impossible form that rose to distinction as a mathematical innovation in 1995 by mathematician Gábor Domokos and engineer Péter Várkonyi. The research duo collected data of pebbles on the shores of Greece using the Zingg diagram, a system that classifies geological sediments into spheres, blades, rods, and disks. They counted the equilibrium and disequilibrium sides and points of each pebble to create a much deeper understanding of the shape formation cycle of pebbles in nature impacted by flowing water and fragmentation.

The gömböc has motivated research about the evolution of natural shapes. While gömböc-shaped pebbles are rare, the connection between geometric shape and the number of static balance points appears to be key in understanding natural shape evolution.