The 5 most creative chess sets

Art and Creativity are everywhere. Math is not the exception, and we may include “Logic” as one of the fundamental pillars where this set of knowledge rests. With Logic we can easily turn creative. Just start listing all that amazing games like Mastermind, the Rubik’s cube, a deck of cards; and in this case, the chess set. People are turning chess sets in creative and arty things.

In chess you need to memorize the special moves that each piece has. Don´t worry more about that, with this minimalist chess set designed by the Bauhaus sculptor Josef Hartwig in 1923. Its design is simple, because it is made of traditional geometrical shapes. The most important thing is that each designed piece shows the valid moves.

Bauhaus's Intuitive Chess Set

The next chess is a real masterpiece that it´s being displayed in a museum. The artist Rachel Whiteread created this chess set in 2005 when she was commissioned for the ongoing project “The Art of Chess”. The pieces are household objects, all different.

Modern Chess Set 

The next one it’s really good enough to be hanging on your wall in a beautiful frame. This is the vertical chess. There´s is this site “Straight up chess” (the link is below) where you can customize your set with different frames, backgrounds and many chess pieces of different materials.

Vertical chess

Even though this chess set doesn’t include its own board, neither its own pieces; literally talking this one is really cool. They sell you the molds to make them out of ice. Take one mold, and pour some water on it. Now take some juice and pour it in the other mold, so you will have pieces of different colors. The point here is that you just have a period of time until your pieces start melting.

Ice chess pieces

Is playing against one player not enough for you? With this chess set you go further. Now play against two players in the 3-player chess set. Here things turn into complexity. You will need to anticipate other’s moves, and wait for even more turns.

Hexagonal variation

Chess is a logic and strategic game. It is even more than that; it is turning into art and pure creativity. Check Mate!

Source:

• http://www.visualnews.com/2012/01/02/bauhauss-intuitive-chess-set/
• http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/modern-chess-set-by-rachel-whi-110999
• http://www.straightupchess.com/Default.asp
• http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e730/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-player_chess 

3D Pens: Deal with them, then have fun

Since the existence of human kind, this one have always wondered about forms to express all

different types of ideas. This started to be possible around the 15^th century with the wooden and graphite pencil; but what about this century? It is getting creative with pens that let us sketch in three dimensions. Will we get the right accessories and, will it be safe for us? Could we deal with them?

Circles are one of those elements that always exist in art. With wooden pencils, we get this tool named compass that makes this task easy. And what happens with 3D Pens? A simple trace of string will help. Tide one end of it at your 3D pen and the other to the center of your in-progress circle. The string will act as the radius, and there you have.

A is the center; AB and AC, are a radius

Could we get any kind of eraser? It could work cutting the melted plastic traces. But, will be able to reuse this used plastic? The plastic needs to have the original form to be compatible with the device. So an artifact that melts this used material and reforms it will be something that surely the user will acquire.

What about our health and safety? The user can be badly burn. The ABS filament starts to burn at temperature of 446 °F; and the PLA filament, 356 °F. The average temperature is 401 °F. Be careful when using this thing. Some 3D pens like the +3doodler, sell stands to prevent accidents.

A stand for the 3doodler

Is melting plastic bad for you? Yes, because the fumes. Fumes are harmful for your lungs. A patent says- “Burning plastic material can in some cases release toxic fumes which can be harmful to those working or living in the area which again can be harmful and be difficult to get rid of.”1 In this case fumes are from petroleum based plastics, that’s ABS. In the other hand, PLA comes from plants; that means a friendlier product.

We are getting all kind of new devices, and with these devices ideas and problems too. The 3D pen is a great tool for designers and anyone who has a good idea, just turn creative and be careful.

Source:

• http://www.google.com/patents/US82775531
• http://lixpen.com/
• http://the3doodler.com/faqs/
• http://phys.org/news/2013-07-3d-printers-shown-emit-potentially.html

The golden ratio

Art can talk about many things; how we see the world, what we want to tell other people and feelings in general. And we have math; that is rules, numbers, equations and logic procedures. The golden ratio comes in between to connect these apparently not relatable subjects and make them the perfect combination. The golden number mix art, math and technology in an unpredictable way.

First we have that this little golden thing (1.61803398875, it’s just a little bit higher than 1!) is taken to make high quality art. We generally accept art as a form of beauty; occasionally proportions based on this number are highly attractive to the human eye. Nature, for example, has taken advantage of this number and has used it in shells and human faces (well, not all of them). Many paintings have been according to these proportions. A clear evidence here is the painting “Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow” 1930, by Piet Mondrian; that shows many of the black lines in this proportional placement.

Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow

Technology is taking this number and it is using it for its attractiveness. Many web pages and social networks rely on the people that visit them. One way to make this? “Let’s use the golden number” could be the perfect response. Actually Twitter is using this in its design. The evidence is Doug Bowman uploading a photo of how these proportions are used in the new design.

Doug Bowman illustrates the golden spiral in #NewTwitter design

The majority says that art and math are unmatchable subjects. We say the contrary, and we are supported with how the golden ratio is used in high priced masterpieces and technological design.

Via:

• http://www.piet-mondrian.org/composition-ii-in-red-blue-and-yellow.jsp
• http://laughingsquid.com/newtwitter-design-creates-golden-ratio/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
• http://www.math.cornell.edu/~araymer/Puzzle/GoldenRatio.pdf