Project: “Fibonacci Tree”
Venue: “Chaos” Show, Ontario Science Centre
Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: Summer, 1989
Client: Ontario Science Centre
Contributors: Matthew Bates in the employ of OSC (project
management, sculpture), OSC design and fabrication (housing)

Client’s Requirements:
The complicated and obtuse concept of partial dimensions needed to be expressed in the context of mathematics in nature. This was to be produced for the “Chaos” show which included exhibits about randomness, fractal patterns, probability etc. Fractal patterns approximated by a crumpled paper ball are said to have 2 1/2 dimensions.

Fulfillment:
To bring these concepts down to earth and make them approachable we created the beautiful vista of an imaginary world. Included were a wire and bead tree based on the Fibonacci series displayed along with a nautilus shell and a landscape composed of crumpled paper. The explanatory graphics were set in poetic verse and presented in an plasticized book.

Interesting Features:
This is one of the few exhibits around that expresses scientific concepts through sculpture.