Rodgers's house and in a hotel's conference halls, sharing their analyses and inventions, paying tribute to the man who inspired them all: the one-time columnist for Scientific American, Martin Gardner. Under his stewardship and partial sponsorship, devotees of mathematics, magic and games come for three days every two years from as far as Japan and England. It is the home of Tom Rodgers, an Atlanta investor and businessman. Forget ships in bottles - how did the inventor Harry Eng get a tennis ball, two sneakers, a deck of cards, a pack of cigarettes and a dictionary into a narrow necked-jug that seems locked from the inside?Īnd is the house itself not a source of wonder? Just outside is a Japanese rock garden and waterfall, landscaped by Takeo Uesugi using boulders from Tennessee nearby, a humidity-controlled garage houses a collection of more than 1,200 dictionaries from before 1800. Kamei's work are used to such wit (see the Kamei entries at ), but in this house even the professional puzzle makers, magicians and mathematicians seem to walk around the rooms slack jawed, gazing at walls of display cases of antique puzzles, bingo sets, dexterity tricks, impossible objects. And the cup is released from the saucer's locked grasp.įollowers of Mr. The cubes sit on the flat surface of cup's wooden liquid and seem drawn to particular spots near the rim. But the key is to consider the nature of the object being portrayed - that cup, for example only then will the puzzle reveal its secrets.Īnd what is the first thing done when faced with a cup and sugar cubes? One puts the cubes into the cup and stirs. In each, hidden internal carvings and intricate joints hold the object together. ''The trick,'' says Mark Setteducati, a magician based in New York, ''is to think of it as a real cup.'' That is the approach used by Akio Kamei, a Japanese puzzle-maker, who sculptures fine woods into shopping bags, envelopes, books and dice. There are no obvious joints, no hidden pieces that can be turned. But can the cup be lifted off the saucer? It seems locked in place. So do two white sugar cubes, also made of wood. In a room off the Japanese-style entryway of a house here, a small mahogany coffee cup is firmly attached to a polished wooden saucer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |