BOUNDARIES by Joseph Choma / Design Topology Lab

Architect and designer Joseph Choma of Design Topology Lab, a research platform dedicated to the ontology of space defined by mathematics, has shared with us his project, BOUNDARIES. The installation, part of a recent exhibition at SP_ARC Gallery in Marietta, Georgia, is a 26' x 13' drawing of his trigonometric transformation: thickening and is constructed out of 450 tiles.

Joseph Choma is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern Polytechnic State University, where he directs the Digital Fabrication Lab.

Project Description from the Designer:

In linguistics, a boundary is anything that defines a limit. Numerically, it may be straightforward to determine a boundary, however, perceptually it is often more ambiguous and subjective. This installation challenges fixed preconceptions of what it means to draw and experience a drawing. The drawing itself is computationally generated using a thickening trigonometric transformation. As the sphere thickens over a series of recursions its geometry begins to mediate between multiple envelopes. The sphere no longer has one boundary but rather has multiple boundaries.

Typically a drawing is at a scale which can be held in the hands of an observer, but this drawing is significantly larger. At 26’ x 13’ the drawings fills a vertical wall while extending onto the floor. It is no longer an objectified element on the wall with defined boundaries, but rather is the wall and floor. The 450 tiles which compose this installation define a cubic space, while the drawing on its surface portrays the sphere thickening from an object state, to that of an atmosphere.

The drawing creases at the center radius of the sphere. A three dimensional illusion emerges as individuals inhabit the drawing. It is no longer enough to have one’s eye move across the drawing, the observer’s themselves must walk, bend and alter their posture.