3D Printing is considered by many technology industry experts to be one of the emerging technologies set to revolutionize manufacturing and businesses. But artist, inventor, and professor of design at Standford University, John Edmark, utilizes 3D printing to sculpt visual perfection based on the Fibonacci sequence; a feat arguably impossible if handmade by man.

The SFGlobe describes Edmark’s work:

“These masterful illusions are the result of a marriage between art and mathematics. Fibonacci’s Sequence is defined as a recurrent relationship that can be expressed as:  F_n = F_{n-1} + F_{n-2}  where the first two digits of the sequence can be defined as F_1=1, and F_2=1. What this means is that the sequence starts with two 1’s, and each following digit is determined by adding together the previous two. Therefore, Fibonacci’s Sequence begins: {1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89…} etc.”

In layman’s terms, Fibonacci’s sequence is embedded in natural all around us. Although it may not be evident, the beauty has been undeniably visible in those popular seashells representing the “golden ratio”, the branching in trees, the arrangement in pine cones, the fruitlets of a pineapple, the florets in the head of a sunflower– get the picture?

Edmark discusses his objective in creating these sculptures, “I employ precise mathematics in the design and fabrication of my work. I do this neither out of a desire to exhibit precision per se, nor to exalt the latest technology, but because the questions I’m trying to formulate and answer about spatial relationships can only be addressed with geometrically exacting constructions. Mathematical precision is an essential ally in my goal of achieving clarity.”

Take a look at how technology, physics, nature, art, and mathematics combine to create an effect that bring these 3D printed sculpture seemingly to life. I was blown away, and the mental images will undoubtedly stay with me to inspire me in my future work.