# Higher Slices

Higher Slices is a piece depicting a tesseract descending into three-dimensional space down from the heavens. Each slice of this higher-dimensional object is cradled by a meshwork of threads, a series of perfect geometric monoliths suspended in air by delicate organic strings.

The piece was exhibited in the summer of 2025 as part of the Fibrations (Säikeistyksiä) exhibit held by the Aalto University Math&Arts programme hosted at the Finnish Science Center Heureka.

Our inspiration for the piece was four-dimensional geometry, in particular the morphing quality that such shapes have when “passing through” the third dimension. One such visualization also happened to trace the path of each of the vertices. This “cradle” trace ended up being the inspiration for the yarnwork mesh that surrounds our shapes.

The pieces were cut from birch plywood, painted black on the inside, and covered in manually tea-dyed cotton strings.

Our team of four (Olivia Palmu, Hiromi Nakamura, Katarina Culina, Aleksi Turpeinen) have a broad range of academic backgrounds which made collaboration quite interesting. You can see a more comprehensive process writeup on the Aalto MathArts website! (the link is currently broken)

One thing that can’t be reproduced digitally is the scale. The piece is 6 meters tall, meaning you really have to crane your neck to see the heights of it. This has the effect of looking upwards towards some kind of higher power, descending through the ceiling into our mortal realm. (Or ascend! It depends on one’s perspective ^^). The scale is exaggerated by the fact that all the strings merge at the base into a single point; the soft shell expands to surround the hard sharp geometry.

For more information about the Fibrations exhibit, see the publication on the Aalto University website (article in Finnish). The article focuses on one particular exhibit, Mama, but also includes general information :)