Coral reefs, with their brilliant colours, their interwoven and tangled forms and their curving and rippling surfaces, are the central theme of the Australian sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim. As scientists, they analyse the aesthetic of mathematical theories and biological phenomena. The Institute for Figuring (IFF), which they founded in Los Angeles in 2005, aims to promote public understanding for the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and technology and to simultaneously draw attention to matters involving nature and the environment. The sisters combine the methods of the traditional needlework technique of crocheting with the beauties of maritime ecosystems and their complex algorithmic structures. The result is a participatory, collective total work of art, which at the same time raises awareness for the endangered and hidden beauties of our oceans.
