Stunning Video Of Fibonacci Zoetrope Sculptures

Prepared to be hypnotized by these stunning Fibonacci zoetrope sculptures, created by John Edmark, an inventor, designer, and artist who currently teaches at Stanford University. These sculptures, created using a 3D printer, are designed to animate when spun while lit by a strobe light or, in the case of this video, when filmed with a very short shutter speed. According to the video’s introduction, Edmark’s “placement of the appendages is determined by the same method nature uses in pine cones and sunflowers… If you count the number of spirals on any of these sculptures you will find that they are always Fibonacci numbers.”

Fibonacci numbers are a number sequence — a pattern — found throughout nature, in settings ranging from the arrangement of branches on trees to that of pine cones, artichokes, and pineapples. Thus, one reason that Edmark’s sculptures are so enthralling might have to do with the fact that they mimic the shapes we see in nature. (Or it might simply be because the sculptures’ perpetually blooming, swirling, spinning gorgeousness is making my brain feel like it has left my body and is entering another dimension in time and space.)

You can learn more about how Edmark made his amazing sculptures here. If you’re feeling ambitious — and you have access to a 3D printer — you can even make your own. Or, if you’d just like to spend the rest of your day lost in a blissful, video-induced trance, head over to Edmark’s website to see more of his mesmerizing work.

Image: Vimeo