"Chartres Laborange"

Ink on dried orange, 2008.

The Chartres design is actually a disc with a central hole that can first readily be transformed into a cylinder (see paper in the proceedings of Bridges Donostia). A belly swelling then blows the famous labyrinth to a sphere with two nice end caps, i.e. the opposite (polar) destinations of the meandering antisymmetric journey (see paper in this year's proceedings).

It can be contemplated that such as does the above mentioned cylinder which now appears as an intermediate step in the morphing through 3-D space of the circular labyrinth into a more 'readable' rectangular one (see Donostia paper), the 'laborange' still explicitly shows that typical 'Chartres' feature of 'pilgrim steps' (two steps forward, one step backward) which brought me during the preparation of this exhibit into deriving this kind of labyrinths from an infinite planar lattice of such 'pilgrim steps' (see this year's paper).

"Micro-Chartres Shines a Laos Octahedral Lantern"

Acrylic on a paper lantern framed in plastic strips. Size of octahedron edge: 20 cm., 2008.





The work sits on top right of above compound image: Projecting Labyrinths onto Polyhedra : a square micro-Chartres with the entrance on a corner has been projected on the upper pyramid of an octahedron. The colored dots symbolize the wheel of colors, and as in previous works indicate the paths on the 'wall' that cannot be 'walked' to get a continuous circuit when the wall maze dead ends are bridged (see Donostia and this year's papers). Top left, a page in a sketchbook displays the genesis of the square micro-Chartres with corner entrance. Bottom left, next step is a hexagonal (bee cells) micro-Chartres starting in a corner, "Les Jardins d'Aywiers" spring 2008 (thanks to Patricia Limauge), aerial photograph by Thomas Delépine,

Samuel Verbiese, Doctor in Mechanical Engineering/Structures in a previous life, now freelance plastician artist
Overijse, Belgium

"Besides expressionistic painting and sculpting of the figure and portrait, I am recurrently drawn into geometric projects, probably by previous life.

This year I present recent works on labyrinths to complement with images and objects my communication at Bridges Banff 2009 'Amazing Labyrinths, Further Developments'."