[Nfb-krafters-korner] Crochet Coral Reef

Tue Aug 3 15:34:48 UTC 2010

http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-features-art-and-science-unique-
exhibition-and-community-project-national-museu

Smithsonian Features Art and Science in a Unique Exhibition and Community
Project at National Museum of Natural History 

July 27, 2010 

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History will host a unique
exhibition, the "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef," a thought-provoking fusion
of science, conservation, mathematics and art. By engaging local communities
to crochet coral reefs, the exhibition celebrates their beautiful diversity
and speaks to the urgent need to protect these vanishing ecosystems. Created
and curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim at the Institute For
Figuring, this exhibition will be in the Sant Ocean Hall focus gallery Oct.
16 - April 24, 2011.

Currently, climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, invasive
species and pollution threaten the very existence of coral reefs around the
world. Nancy Knowlton, the Sant Chair for Marine Science at the museum and
the Smithsonian's science advisor for the exhibition, has focused much of
her research on these endangered ecosystems.

"The reefs that I studied 35 years ago have largely vanished, and most reefs
may well be gone by the end of the century, or sooner, if nothing is done to
protect them," said Knowlton. "This project is a stark reminder that if
trends continue, an exhibition like this may someday be the only way for
people to experience the beauty of coral reefs."

Shocked by the accelerating demise of corals around the globe, the Wertheims
took action, deciding to tell the story of coral reefs-their beauty and the
threats they face-through crochet.

As the name suggests, the "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef" also incorporates
the world of mathematics. Throughout the ocean, the diverse forms of kelps,
corals and sea slugs are variations of a geometric form known as hyperbolic
space. Mathematicians had long believed this type of geometry was impossible
to represent physically, even though it has existed within nature for
hundreds of millions of years. Finally, in 1997, Cornell University's Daina
Taimina realized that models of hyperbolic space could be created using
crochet-a discovery that astonished the mathematical world.

The Wertheims, inspired by the Great Barrier Reef in their native
Queensland, Australia, harnessed this discovery and started crocheting a
coral reef. For the past five years they have been working with communities
all over the world to build a global network of crochet reefs that has
become an ongoing collective experiment. Since the project began, satellite
reefs have been created in Chicago; New York; London; Dublin; Scottsdale,
Ariz.; Sydney; and Riga, Latvia. The participation of such a vast variety of
communities has created a collection of crocheted corals as distinctive and
diverse as their living counterparts.

"Wooliness and wetness aren't exactly two concepts that you would initially
pair together, but now this project reaches across five continents and has
roots that extend into the fields of mathematics, marine biology, feminine
handicraft and environmental activism," said co-creator Margaret Wertheim.
"It's taken on a viral dimension of its own, and in a beautiful way the
development of the project parallels the evolution of life on Earth."

In association with the exhibition opening this fall, the museum has
launched the Smithsonian Community Reef, the newest satellite of the global
Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. The Smithsonian Community Reef boasts
more than 200 participants from the Washington, D.C., area, including
Maryland and Virginia, and at least 15 other states, including Arizona,
California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico,
Ohio and Washington and as well as Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom and
promises to be one of the largest community reefs ever produced. A portion
of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is currently on display at the
Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. The Smithsonian
Community Reef is made possible through the support of the Quiksilver
Foundation, the Embassy of Australia and the Coral Reef Alliance.

Volunteers are crocheting enthusiastically throughout the summer to produce
a 10-by-16-foot reef that will be displayed together with the "Hyperbolic
Crochet Coral Reef" exhibition. Jane Milosch, senior program officer in the
Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture, and a curator of
contemporary craft, is an advisor to the project.

"The community aspect of the Smithsonian's in-progress reef heightens our
appreciation for the handmade and our awareness that individual actions can
have a powerful, collective impact on the environment," said Milosch.

The museum welcomes participation in this exciting collaborative fiber-art
project to raise awareness about the threats to coral reefs. Contributions
can be submitted by mail or delivered in person and will be accepted for
inclusion in the Community Reef, provided they meet the deadline and
guidelines available by e-mail at sicommunityreef at yahoo.com or by visiting
Flickr and Ravelry at "Smithsonian Community Reef" under groups. To learn
more about the "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef" exhibition, visit
http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/index.html.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, located at 10th Street
and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C., welcomes more than 7
million visitors annually. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. Admission is free. More information about the museum is available at
www.mnh.si.edu <http://www.mnh.si.edu/>  or by calling (202) 633-1000
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (202) 633-1000
end_of_the_skype_highlighting, TTY (202) 357-1729.

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SI-323-2010

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Kelly Carnes
(202) 633-2950 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (202) 633-2950
end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Randall Kremer
(202) 633-2950 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (202) 633-2950
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Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef 1
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The Institute For Figuring, Ladies Silurian Atol: Part of the Hyperbolic
Crochet Coral Reef exhibition on display at the Smithsonian's National
Museum of Natural History from Oct. 16 to April 24, 2011.

Photo C The IFF

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