Poster: (Overlapping text is interactive, transcript below).
I stumbled upon this image of a bismuth crystal when searching for interesting crystal patterns, and was immediately struck by the two contrasting patterns (The rectangular prisms and the bubbly deformations) and the way the apparent corruption of an otherwise very rigidly defined form could add a completely different layer of aesthetic attraction to it.
I later realised that this particular example is not exactly representative of the majority of bismuth crystals, which have less deformation and more sharp, geometric lines. I decided however to stick to the idea I had obtained from this original image, as it seemed more technically feasible and produced more unique forms.
I also quite like the effect of the light on both the sharp edges of the geometric component, and the curved forms of the growth-like elements, as it seems to create two contrasting textures from a single material, in a way reminiscent of topographical architecture.
I had a reasonably good idea how I would go about generating the forms in Grasshopper. I created a group of boxes controlled by eight numerical parameters, then generated a series of spheres that intersected with the outer edge of the boxes, and subtracted them from said boxes.
The main barrier I encountered was that of computing power. The subtraction operation takes a significant amount of time for even a single combination, and this algorithm often called for eighty or more operations at once. There seemed to be a point where the operations ceased to behave correctly and no geometry was generated at all, which meant I couldn’t quite get the pitting level I was looking for. However, thanks to some careful optimisation and use of customised modules, the final product was something I believe effectively represents the geometry of my original theme.
Grasshopper Definition:
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