19: All out Icosahedral-Dodecahedral dual – Submissions closed.

The June contest, is to build a sculpture with magnet sphere sculpture with a symmetry order of 12. That is, that there should be 12 number of different but equivalent views of the sculpture. Don’t be alarmed, this is actually a very easy geometric requirement. If you’ve ever made anything that resembled a ball, it likely fit the bill.

The geometry of Icosahedrons and Dodecahedrons are closely related, and both have a symmetry order of 12 . A sphere of 60 magnets can be a dodecahedron (12 sided polygon) if the pentagonal rings seen as the surfaces, or an icosahedron (20 sided) if the triangles are counted as the surfaces. In geometry, polyhedra are associated into pairs called duals, where the vertices of one correspond to the faces of the other.

There is no limit on how many magnet spheres you may use. Any brand is permitted, but if you plan on building large, you’ll have a better time using high tolerance Zen Magnets. If you don’t have thousands of magnets, you’ll have to especially focus on the lighting, framing, and photographic integrity.

The above are some examples from the Zen Gallery.

As usual, the judges will be your peers. So don’t aim simply to make the most amazing sculpture, try to take the most beautiful photo. First place gets two free zen sets, second place one free set. No brand restrictions on this contest, you may use colored magnets and common tolerance magnets such as: neoballs, nanodots, and buckyballs. Again, this is a photography contest as much as a magnet sphere contest. Everything you submit goes into the public domain. Having fun is the most important requirement. Submission deadline is the end of June.

To enter, load your full resolution photo to imgur.com, and fill out the submission form:

Submissions closed. Entries posted soon.