Robert A. "Bob" Wiggs (1922-2015)

Never formally trained in mathematics, Wiggs studied mud cracks, bee hives, and tree bark to create a geometric system that rivals the work of academic mathematicians, a system which he expressed and explored in scores of sculptures. A documentary film entitled Bending Lines (bendinglinesfilm.com) documents his artwork and recollections prior to his death in 2015. It uncovers an amateur mathematician, obscured by time and his profession, whose work communicates the universal quest to discover the essence of the natural world.

Wiggs earned his Masters degree in Art from the University of Iowa in 1951 and began his teaching career. He served on the art faculties of Southern Illinois University; as a lecturer at the University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Kentucky, Lexington; and LSU, Baton Rouge. In 1965, he moved to the art faculty at the University of Southwestern Louisiana teaching sculpture and drawing from which he retired in 1987. In 1987 he received international recognition when he discovered the ninth self all-space filling polyhedron he named "Twist Octahedron". He was recommended for publication by Dr. Cyril Stanley Smith of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was then published widely in journals and on invitation lectured at conferences in Hungary, Japan, Israel, and South Africa. In addition, he and his wife traveled to China, Turkey, Great Britain, and Europe during his active years. He won the sculpture award at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Museum and had one-man exhibits at the LSU Student Union building, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and was represented by galleries at Chicago, Houston, and Baton Rouge. He has created numerous public sculptures on display.

Portions of this biography were copied from his obituary, published here:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/theadvertiser/name/robert-wiggs-obituary?pid=174694550

Wiggs’ Polystructures

Suture Mechanics is a unique system for generating polyhedra that evolved from years of studying patterns in nature. The form generating system is very simple in concept but yet very powerful and significant in terms of potential applications to the natural sciences and engineering disciplines at all scales. It is based on the spatial relationship and patterns that emerge between the components/parts that make up all things in nature.

During years of comparative analysis and research of natural patterns by the author, there was a realization that the information about the assembly of patterns was not to be found by focusing upon the solid material but by focusing on the spaces between the material parts. This research strongly suggests that the patterns found in nature are not in the materials but that the materials are in the patterns. The gaps between the parts of material pattern systems are where all assembly and separation takes place. In the Suture Mechanics System, these spaces between the components of materials are called "sutures". The spatial arrangements of the sutures exhibit repeating and recognizable patterns that are ubiquitous in nature at all scales of observation.

To discover more about Wigg’s work, visit http://wiggspolysutures.com