Disk Combobulation
This is Disk Combobulation I, an assemblage of thirty 3.5 inch floppy
diskettes, slotted and slid into each other gluelessly, embodying a precise
five-color pattern. Each diskette is penetrated by diskettes of the other
four colors. Twelve five-sided openings are each bordered by the five different
colors in a different cyclic order. The six of any one color are arranged
in the form of an exploded cube. For any choice of three different colors,
there is one point where all three touch in a clockwise order; at the opposite
point, they touch in a counterclockwise order. There are exactly two possible
arrangements of the 30 disks with all the above properties, giving rise
to Disk Combobulation I and Disk Combobulation II. They are not mirror
images of each other. Above is the first one, currently on display at the
Goudreau Museum in New Hyde Park, NY. The second one of the set was sent
to someone as a house-warming present.
copyright 1999, George W. Hart