Wirksworth Art and Architecture Trail 2017 – Une Tessellation dédidée a la Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Die

The 2017 Wirksworth Festival, in Derbyshire, England, runs from 8th until 24th. September.perhaps its most successful feature is the Art and Architecture Trail, 10 till 5 on Saturday and Sunday, 9th and 10th. September. This has grown over the years into an event that attracts  artists from a wide area to exhibit in an amazing and entertaining variety of public rooms, business studios, private homes and outdoor spaces. Add in crowds and street music and you have the atmosphere and stimulation of a mini Edinburgh Fringe. Exhibited below is an impression of my contribution, which will be assembled under a gazebo on the lawn behind the Memorial Hall. As in 2016, a tessellation is realised on  two 8 ft by 4 ft (2.4m by 1.2m) boards and once again employs the number pair (8,9), 8th. September being not only the patronal festival of St. Mary’s Church Wirksworth, but also of Notre-Dame de Die. But this year it’s a tiling of equilateral triangles, not squares – a trickier practical project.

..but, writing on Tuesday 5th. September, the question is, “Will it be finished in time?” the snapshot below give some idea of the 99% perspiration involved. Thanks to Kwik Split for supplying Raimondi hexagonal tile dividers – a rare breed.

Furthermore, as I write my good friend Jacob the Joiner, busy with Middleton-by-Wirksworth community endeavours, is still to cut up the 6 x (64 + 72 + 81) = 1302 equilateral triangles needed, from  mdf boards (plywood would spall under the saw), two of which are to be seen above, each anointed with seven coats of paint, two of which are “magnetic”. The time is ripe to prototype laser-cutting from metal sheets.

Update of Thursday 7th: the redoubtable and obliging Jacob Butler has nearly finished cutting the triangles. Here he is at work. First the boards are cut into strips, then fed in to the saw again, about five strips at a time at a 60 degree angle. After each cut, each strip is turned over and…hey presto! Jacob’s table saw is an excellently solid and accurate piece of kit, but not surprisingly, however, he recommends I root out a CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) router next time. The last time he experienced such repetitive tedium was when Harrod’s ordered 100 (was it?) identical wooden toy trains.

The Lattice Labyrinths workbook  is available from the publisher or you-know-who , or from a good independent bookshop or via Google