Materials list

Prepare a few materials and tools before the workshop and follow along with Alison to make a sculpture using ‘hyperbolic geometry’.

You will need quantities of ‘loops’ and ‘ties’. Whether you prepare the minimum loops and ties or the maximum, you’ll be able to learn new and unconventional techniques.  

• Collect or make 50–100 loops.
  • Collect loops from used materials such as pplastic bottle neck rings (e.g. milk, softdrink)
  • Make loops from used materials such as cardboard strips (e.g. cereal box) or plastic (e.g. milk bottle)
    • Cut 1 cm strips at 10–15cm length and staple into loops
    • Click this link to follow Alison’s guide for making loops using milk bottle plastic.  
  • Make or purchase 50–100 ties to join loops
    • • Small cable ties are ideal. Some hardware and discount stores sell packs of 500 in 4–5 colours for $5–$6 (e.g. Bunnings, Kmart)
      • Or make knots during the workshop using string tied into knots and trimmed.
  • Tools to cut and join strips for loop making and tie trimming
    • Scissors 
    • Box cutter
    • Stapler (regular size, not mini)
• Timing tip!
  We made loops for the workshop using 2L milk bottles and we discovered the following…
  • 1 x 2L milk bottle makes 15 loops
  • 4–7 milk 2L milk bottles needed to make 50–100 loops
  • 4 minutes to make 15 loops = 16–28 minutes to make 45–100 loops

Even if you don’t get the chance to prepare the materials, stay and view the workshop to see Alison in action while she shares key concepts about her approach to sculpture making.

Stimulus to explore before or after the workshop

Artwork, stage show and exhibition: Ring cycle (2021) — Wearable Art Creatives (hyperbolic headpiece)

Pose 2021

Up close (Pinnacles Gallery)

Daina Taimina, Mathematician, Cornell University
Book: Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes — Tactile mathematics, art and craft for all to explore (2009)
Video: TED Talk — Crocheting hyperbolic planes (2014, 16:55 minutes)

This talk shares the story about how female mathematician Daina Taimina used crocheting to challenge stereotypes about mathematicians, because “mathematics is not scary when you can touch it and make it yourself”.

Taimina discovered the value of making maths tactile when she used it to illustrate the complex concept of hyperbolic geometry to engage her university students so they could “hold theory in their hands”, to teach it ‘better’ than she experienced 20 years earlier as a university student herself. 

Taimina’s talk also shares that she “learnt how to be an artist” when she was invited to exhibit her hyperbolic crocheted artworks.

Margaret Wertheim
Science + Art project: Crochet coral reef (PDF. 664KB)

Mathematics Stack Exchange
Diagram: Exponential growth

Maths Craft Australia
Guide: How to crochet a hyperbolic plane (PDF. 664KB)

In the workshop, Alison will share a tour of her Townsville studio and key aspects of her art practice. For example, Alison innovatively combines traditional techniques for fabric making (e.g. crocheting, knitting) with techniques for making with plastic (e.g. tying, knotting) and metal (e.g. welding). Alison will also discuss processes for collecting unconventional discarded materials like plastic (e.g. bottles, lids, neck rings) and metal (e.g. hooks) en-masse to upcycle them into large-scale and public artworks using a range of sculpture techniques for joining and constructing (e.g. heating, drilling, hammering). With Alison’s guidance, she’ll expand our repertoire for using unconventional techniques and materials to make sculptures that extend our art making with a new range of possibilities.

For junior and senior students, Alison’s sculpture making supports processes for projects to make collaborative artworks or independent responses with links to STEM learning. For example, some of her artworks use Maths concepts like hyperbolic geometry, negative curvature, exponential growth, adding, multiplying and patterns. Plus, many artworks also link to Science with themes related to the environment, sustainability and impacts of pollution on the ocean and wildlife. Also,  manipulation of hyperbolic geometry and negative curvature is found in nature and food, such as: leaves (e.g. holly), flower petals, lettuce, kale, banana, potato chips (e.g. Pringles), coral, nudibranch sea creatures, virus. Senior students may like to exploit the potential for using everyday materials, tools and techniques to make mixed media sculptures with contemporary approaches.