Interloctangles, 2008
Welded steel
36" x 34" x 34" (H x W x D)
Interloctangles is a Geometrical Symbolist sculpture demonstrating three rectangles of 2"x2" square steel tube interlocked so that each rectangle is inside one and outside the other. It was inspired by the work of British sculptor John Robinson (1935-2007), a leading creator of abstract symbolic sculptures representing mathematical concepts about dimensional space, especially those with ancient origins and relationships to sacred geometry. He created three sculptures based on this specific concept using interlocked squares (Creation, 1991), triangles (Intuition, 1993) and rhombuses (Genesis, 1995). Lee Badger created this sculpture of interlocked rectangles as a tribute to Robinson after his death.
Interloctangles is a visual representation of specific geometrical concepts and relationships. By mathematical necessity of its interlocked structure, the sculpture’s twelve outside corners define an icosahedron, a Platonic solid with many interdependent proportions. From some perspectives, the sculpture appears to represent the Star of David, but this is a three dimensional illusion.
Geometrically and symbolically, the three-way interlocking configuration of Interloctangles is called “Borromean Rings." Known since Babylonian and Han Dynasty times, it has come to represent indivisibility and strength in unity. Ancient examples of this configuration are found in symbols of the Christian Trinity, in the Norse Valknut, and in Buddhist cosmology. Also known as a “Monkey Knot,” in the mid-20th C. the Borromean Rings were widely known to Americans as the trademark of P. Ballantine & Sons, the first television sponsor of the New York Yankees and brewers of "America's Best Selling Ale."