The pumping thing | Francis Jonckheere

Pumping duals

The Pumping Thing is a concept Anne Tyng referred to quite often in talks and interviews. She explained that THE PUMPING THING is a dynamic (call it a trick) between two related platonic solids. Examples of two related platonic solids are, amongst others, the cube and the octahedron, and the icosahedron and the dodecahedron (they are related because the corners of one solid center on the faces of the other).
But what this relation, this trick, between the two volumes, is exactly, remains unclear. It seems that it is not just one trick but rather a set of movements, of two connected volumes, with respect to each other.
Update: 26/09/2013

Image 2.10: pumping icosahedron and dodecahedron

Posted: 26/10/2013

Image 2.09: foil wrapped pumping icosahedron and dodecahedron

Posted: 11/02/2016

Image 2.8: pumping cube and octahedron, improved version of Image 4

Posted: 08/05/2013

Image 2.07: foil wrapped pumping cube and octahedron

Posted: 11/02/2016

Image 2.06: pumping tetrahedron

Posted: 13/11/2013

Image 2.05: pumping cube and octahedron, I'm sure Anne had this one in mind (among others?)

Posted: 06/05/2013

Anne Tyng might have been particularly fond of these Pumping Things, because it connects static architecture (and the platonic solids might be considered as the pinnacle of static architecture, the fundamental building blocks) with playful movement. As she said, it bridges the gap between an inanimate and an animate form.

[DUTCH] Uit elk pumping thing spreekt een ruimteopvatting die de vierde dimensie tijd tot uiting brengt. De ervaring van deze architectuur is tijdruimtelijk van aard: ze wordt niet bepaald door de statische kwaliteit van een gefixeerde ruimte, maar door het ononderbroken samenspel van simultane ervaringen van verschillende (ruimtelijke) aard; ervaringen die traditioneel gesproken slechts na elkaar kunnen worden waargenomen. Een architectuur gekenmerkt door simultaneïteit, dynamiek, transparantie, veelzijdigheid, een spel van vervloeiingen en suggestieve beweeglijkheid.
Update: 12/10/2015

Image 2.04: pumping cube and octahedron, I'm sure Anne had this one in mind (among others?)

Posted: 20/04/2014

Anne Tyng about Pumping Things:
"Oh, I would love to see that thing pump. But eh, maybe that's for the next... [exhibit] who knows, if I go long enough... that'd be nice."
- Anne Tyng talking with WD and FJ on January 14, 2011
Posted: 19/05/2012

Today we can transform inanimate to animate form with proportioned energy flow.
- Anne Tyng note on paperbag 'MISC001' (notation FJ)
Posted: 29/03/2014

Pumping forms. Flexible corners/joints. Flexible faces: breathing in/out.
- Anne Tyng note on paperbag 'MISC002' (notation FJ)
Posted: 29/03/2014

The icosahedron and the dodecahedron. "The fact that you can have these two together, with the corners at the centers of the faces; the corners of one at the centers of the faces of the other, is the same principle as you have between the cube and the octahedron. And I believe, in this case, the pumping is more subtle and more... almost continuously more effective as a pumping system maybe... than the one where you have the cube and the octahedron."
- Anne Tyng in a video realized by Ramak Fazel on April 6, 2011
Posted: 16/05/2012

"The corners of the cube, center on the faces of the octahedron and vice versa, they have a polarity with each other, in other words, one has six faces and eight corners and the reversed has six corners and eight faces, so they make a pair and the same thing is true for these two [dodecahedron and icosahedron]. They make a pair in the same way. And I believe that this represents a stage of form, being pumped."
- From Anne Tyng's lecture, "Beaux Arts Complexity to Bauhaus Simplicity" at the GSD
Posted: 10/05/2013

"As I have noted (page 59), the higher solids do not ‘close-pack’ in space, but can be related in a dynamic relation of 'breathing’ in and out- i.e. when the dodecahedrons are in their regular form, the icosahedrons become concave, and vice versa."
- From Anne Tyng's PhD thesis, "Simultaneous Randomness And Order", 1975. This is likely the earliest reference to Pumping Things, she made.
Posted: 06/01/2016

Older pumping duals:
Image 2.03: pumping octahedron with cube

Update: 04/06/2012

Image 2.02: pumping cube and octahedron
Update: 04/06/2012

Image 2.01: pumping octahedron with cube
Update: 11/05/2012

ALL CONTENT © 2012-2016 FRANCIS JONCKHEERE

Pumping duals
The Pumping Thing is a concept Anne Tyng referred to quite often in talks and interviews. She explained that THE PUMPING THING is a dynamic (call it a trick) between two related platonic solids. Examples of two related platonic solids are, amongst others, the cube and the octahedron, and the icosahedron and the dodecahedron (they are related because the corners of one solid center on the faces of the other). But what this relation, this trick, between the two volumes, is exactly, remains unclear. It seems that it is not just one trick but rather a set of movements, of two connected volumes, with respect to each other.	Update: 26/09/2013
Image 2.10: pumping icosahedron and dodecahedron	Posted: 26/10/2013
Image 2.09: foil wrapped pumping icosahedron and dodecahedron	Posted: 11/02/2016
Image 2.8: pumping cube and octahedron, improved version of Image 4	Posted: 08/05/2013
Image 2.07: foil wrapped pumping cube and octahedron	Posted: 11/02/2016
Image 2.06: pumping tetrahedron	Posted: 13/11/2013
Image 2.05: pumping cube and octahedron, I'm sure Anne had this one in mind (among others?)	Posted: 06/05/2013
Anne Tyng might have been particularly fond of these Pumping Things, because it connects static architecture (and the platonic solids might be considered as the pinnacle of static architecture, the fundamental building blocks) with playful movement. As she said, it bridges the gap between an inanimate and an animate form. [DUTCH] Uit elk pumping thing spreekt een ruimteopvatting die de vierde dimensie tijd tot uiting brengt. De ervaring van deze architectuur is tijdruimtelijk van aard: ze wordt niet bepaald door de statische kwaliteit van een gefixeerde ruimte, maar door het ononderbroken samenspel van simultane ervaringen van verschillende (ruimtelijke) aard; ervaringen die traditioneel gesproken slechts na elkaar kunnen worden waargenomen. Een architectuur gekenmerkt door simultaneïteit, dynamiek, transparantie, veelzijdigheid, een spel van vervloeiingen en suggestieve beweeglijkheid.	Update: 12/10/2015
Image 2.04: pumping cube and octahedron, I'm sure Anne had this one in mind (among others?)	Posted: 20/04/2014
*Anne Tyng about Pumping Things:* "Oh, I would love to see that thing pump. But eh, maybe that's for the next... [exhibit] who knows, if I go long enough... that'd be nice." - Anne Tyng talking with WD and FJ on January 14, 2011	Posted: 19/05/2012
Today we can transform inanimate to animate form with proportioned energy flow. - Anne Tyng note on paperbag 'MISC001' (notation FJ)	Posted: 29/03/2014
Pumping forms. Flexible corners/joints. Flexible faces: breathing in/out. - Anne Tyng note on paperbag 'MISC002' (notation FJ)	Posted: 29/03/2014
The icosahedron and the dodecahedron. "The fact that you can have these two together, with the corners at the centers of the faces; the corners of one at the centers of the faces of the other, is the same principle as you have between the cube and the octahedron. And I believe, in this case, the pumping is more subtle and more... almost continuously more effective as a pumping system maybe... than the one where you have the cube and the octahedron." - Anne Tyng in a video realized by Ramak Fazel on April 6, 2011	Posted: 16/05/2012
"The corners of the cube, center on the faces of the octahedron and vice versa, they have a polarity with each other, in other words, one has six faces and eight corners and the reversed has six corners and eight faces, so they make a pair and the same thing is true for these two [dodecahedron and icosahedron]. They make a pair in the same way. And I believe that this represents a stage of form, being pumped." - From Anne Tyng's lecture, "Beaux Arts Complexity to Bauhaus Simplicity" at the GSD	Posted: 10/05/2013
"As I have noted (page 59), the higher solids do not ‘close-pack’ in space, but can be related in a dynamic relation of 'breathing’ in and out- i.e. when the dodecahedrons are in their regular form, the icosahedrons become concave, and vice versa." - From Anne Tyng's PhD thesis, "Simultaneous Randomness And Order", 1975. This is likely the earliest reference to Pumping Things, she made.	Posted: 06/01/2016
Older pumping duals: Image 2.03: pumping octahedron with cube	Update: 04/06/2012
Image 2.02: pumping cube and octahedron	Update: 04/06/2012
Image 2.01: pumping octahedron with cube	Update: 11/05/2012
ALL CONTENT © 2012-2016 FRANCIS JONCKHEERE