All children have cut out paper dolls that form a zig-zag configuration of identical white bodies hand-in-hand. Here we see a new configuration of sixty identical paper dolls in acrobatic support of one another. We have all seen two circus acrobats lift an arm to support the feet of a third who stands in the air above them, but here the acrobatic "pyramid" continues around the sphere forever.  Each hand holds the foot of another up above, with never an end to the chain. Our eye follows the human links from one to the next, up and up, in and out. The chains of support curve around and we can always find some path which connects any two of these friends. It is a woven tapestry of acrobats, each identical, each exactly flat, each in the same configuration relative to its neighbors as all the others, all happily defying gravity in every direction. They live in their own world of mathematical precision and perfect balance, as they lift and are lifted by their friends. So what at first appears complex is gradually understood to be simple.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

George W. Hart is a research professor in the computer science department at Stony Brook University, NY.  He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, both from MIT. Hart is also a sculptor, and his works have received praise and awards in numerous exhibitions. His web site http://www.georgehart.com illustrates the range of his work