This has been such a fun project – from hand building the harmonograph with saws, drills, nuts and bolts, to digitally designing the print, to coordinating and figuring out the printing and packaging itself… it was more involved than I had initially anticipated.
I first spotted the harmonograph at my local science museum (OMSI) the summer of 2022, but didn’t feel up to the task of queuing in a long line of 6 year olds to experience it for myself. I was regretful when I got home, so naturally I let the intrusive thoughts win.
I worked with Augie Krater to digitize and design the arrangement of these shapes, bringing out the contrasts and balancing the symmetries between them. The shapes seem to hold some sort of secret to the universe. They look like jellyfish, phytoplankton, perhaps tree rings, zodiacs, nebulae? Or even fingerprints and planetary orbits. They also apparently share mathematical patterns with musical harmonic series.
If you do get a print of this, there is a “right” way to hang (unless MOMA’s upside down Mondrien is inspirational, in which case, hang it however you please). The very tiny signature (FSH + AJK) is on the lower right hand corner.
Thanks for allowing me to indulge in this long commentary. At least this isn’t the monologue to an internet recipe?
Flora Hamilton