Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #13901



To: Jean auBois hogfather@earthlink.net
From: Dave sbcrap@solarbotics.com
Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 22:13:37 -0600
Subject: Re: [alt-beam] Umm.. I don't think so.


At 08:52 PM 6/2/2001, Jean auBois wrote:
>Let me start off with this: the artwork itself is lovely. It still makes
>me think of fairly uncrushable robots.
>
>
>http://www.solarbotics.com/images/gallery/hi-rez/Events/LANLY2K1/dscn0409.jpg
>
>However, to quote from the related picture area on the Solarbotics' site:
>
> >Jeff de Boer developed these exoform trilobite shells under Mark Tilden's
> >direction.
>
>Exoform? WHY isn't "exoskeleton", a good-old fashioned word good
>enough? Actually, I've got a good suspicion why Yet Another Unnecessary
>Neologism, but then you'd probably just think I'm being Cynical.

Because that's Jeff's own word, not Mark's. He's got a whole series of
artworks he calls "exoforms".

>More, far more importantly: the two shells aren't inverses of each
>other. They are worked with different metals (not 'identical'), but if you
>rotate the silver w/ the gold stripe one 180 degrees so that it is
>"parallel" with the other you'll see that they are the same shape and not
>inverses.

They're actually both made identically of nickel, with different metal
oxidations applied to each to give them that appearance - one with a dark
oxide with silver stripe, the other silver, with a dark oxide stripe.
Perhaps "negative of each other" would be more appropriate, but I'll let
"inverse" stay.

Regards,
Dave

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