Natural Selection

Natural Selection is an extension of the Community Structure Series, a series of forms that looks at possibilities within social or community structures and how an individual is affected by inclusion in a specific group. This work also considers nature versus nurture.

These 27 parts began the same size and shape so that each form, or the genetics of the form, started in a similar place. The surprise factor was in varying the stitch and the orientation of the stitch in each form. Often I like to anchor my work in prime numbers, this time the piece wanted to be anchored in 3s, 3 is a sacred number in multiple traditions. 27 is 3 cubed.

Each generic loop of soft crocheted material was formed and individualized by the process. The manner in which the polyester resin was applied, the orientation of the form during resin application, and the type of stitch and the orientation of the stitch all determine how the fiberglass stretches and how gravity affects the form. I used the beginning sequence of the infinite number Pi to determine color and form placement. This process I see as analogous to the clean slate that a child is, thrust into society to be pulled and molded by external factors.

After the individual pieces were made unique by the resin application process, gravity, and math, they were laid out on the floor in 9 columns of 3s. Some naturally wanted to be placed on their side. The depth of the form that juts out from the wall affects the shadow it projects, thereby altering each individual’s uniqueness in yet one more dimension. Groups in multiples of 3s naturally clustered. The personality of each form was also affected as it became a part of a small cluster. The identity of this group as a whole, the cliques within it, and the uniqueness of each individual, were more determined by the external factors then the choices within the starting dry generic form or were they.

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© Yvette Kaiser Smith 2004