All (!) three-part variations on three different kinds of cubes

Authors

Robert Bosch, Oberlin College
Ilana McNamara, Oberlin College

Abstract

Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) made or designed several artworks whose titles contain the phrase “three-part variations on three different kinds of cubes.” To a mathematician, these pieces suggest a combinatorics problem: How many variations are there? In this paper we present a new way of diagramming LeWitt’s variations, we describe how to solve the combinatorics problem using Burnside’s Counting Theorem, and we share some photos of our 3D-printed versions of the variations, including a new 57th variation.

Repository Citation

Bosch, Robert, and Ilana McNamara. “All (!) three-part variations on three different kinds of cubes.” Bridges 2023: Conference Proceedings, edited by Judy Holdener, et al., 545-548. Phoenix, AZ: Tessellations Publishing, 2023.

Publisher

Tessellations Publishing

Publication Date

7-31-2023

Department

Mathematics

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Notes

Conference held July 27-31, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

ISBN

9781938664458

Language

English

Format

text