#1375: Crafting non-Euclidean geometry with yarn: The case of the hyperbolic plane

Aligning craft, mathematics, and socio-political activism, this installation art piece ventures into non-Euclidean geometry to crochet the hyperbolic plane in a range of colors and fabrics. While Euclidean geometry follows a well-known set of axioms such as a plane is a flat surface, non-Euclidean geometry directly subverts those. For centuries taught impossible to model physically, the hyperbolic plane, a surface which curves away from itself at every point, was successfully crocheted at last by a female mathematician, showing that craft can be a vehicle for even advanced mathematics. Thereafter and further gaining traction, crocheting hyperbolic planes became the focal point of the Crochet the Coral Reef project, drawing attention to climate change and showing that craft can also be a salient vehicle for socio-political activism. This living art piece welcomes visitor interactions and creative exploration toward collectively crafting a coral reef of our own.