Handedness and T Symmetry

Are the two hung solid shapes the same thing?

In 1783, Immanuel Kant, a philosopher during the Age of Enlightenment, was perhaps the first human to recognize in writing that some mirror images are not identical, such as a left hand and a right hand, even if they may appear the same. A half century later, the term chirality, or handedness, was introduced to describe mirror images that are different from one another. Moreover, the Symmetries of all possible three-dimensional shapes, real or imaginary, were being systematically described, and finally completed by the late 19th century.

The two sculptures hung are a rare case of symmetry. They each have four different viewing directions such that when the sculpture is rotated 120 degrees, it looks identical to how it appeared prior to the rotation, and the other three viewing directions when rotated 180 degrees also looked identical. Shapes with these symmetrical characteristics are labeled as “T” to denote an overall tetrahedron shape that has handedness.

Artist:  Knowledge Makers LLC

Fabricator and installer:

Knowledge Makers LLC,
Robert D. Adams & Y. Y. Luk

Commissioned by
Guffin Bay Resort & Marina, Chaumont NY 13622, USA Summer, 2024