Pedro M. R. F. Pereira da Silva

Statement

I build static and dynamic 3D constructions. My primary goal is to gain geometric intuition by building with my own hands, and nudge others towards this path. If looking at my models you see beauty yet wonder “could I make this myself today?”, then I have succeeded. My approach involves repurposing abundant materials as modular kits. For instance, double-pointed toothpicks fit into flexible scoubidou plastic tube sockets bundled by simple knots or metal wire, whereas bamboo skewers fit wider tubular bundles. A patient pair of hands and common tools like staplers, pliers and scissors suffice. Assembly eschews glue, for immediacy and easy backtracking: I routinely disassemble older experiments for parts, as my skill and ideas evolve.

Artworks

A pair of small stellated dodecahedron models at different scales, one made with skewers, another with toothpicks, connected via tubular bundle junctions. 60 bars form each model’s core and 120 the external shell, doubled for aesthetics. The core: 12 pentagrams (each woven from 5 bars, with constant handedness) in place of regular dodecahedron faces. Assembled, they confer rigidity to an otherwise flexible solid, without explicit triangular elements. A different perspective reveals 5 interlocked cubes. The shell: 12 pentagonal pyramid caps, whose facets coincide with the pentagram planes. This mathematical coincidence arises from fixing bar length, ultimately exploiting the golden ratio relationships in regular pentagon diagonals.