Study 28 · Strange Attractors
Multi-scroll Chua 1
The first multi-scroll Chua work in the collection, exploring how a nonlinear circuit reference can prompt sculptural form.
The mathematical reference
Chua’s circuit is a well-known nonlinear electronic circuit capable of producing chaotic behaviour and strange attractors. “Multi-scroll” refers to related attractor forms studied in this field. This first work uses the Chua family as a mathematical point of departure, but the image is not a schematic, experimental trace or direct rendering of equations.
Multi-scroll Chua 1 System equations
This is a reference for the piecewise-linear multiscroll Chua family. The number 1 belongs to the studio catalogue. The precise slope and breakpoint choices cannot be recovered from the finished render alone.
Here, t is time and the variables are coordinates in the system’s state space. Letters such as a, b and c denote fixed coefficients. These are reference equations for the named model or family, not a recovered record of the parameters, initial conditions or integration settings used in this particular image. Chaotic behaviour depends on those choices.
Formula reference: View the documented system and source.
From a trajectory to Multi-scroll Chua 1 System art
Riccardo develops the rail in Grasshopper for Rhinoceros using Chimpanzee. The system evolves over time, producing successive three-dimensional points. Connecting those samples creates a path. A cross-section is then swept along that rail, giving the line thickness and a surface. This is how a time-dependent mathematical trajectory becomes visible as sculptural geometry.
The sweep adds a visual layer to the mathematics: its width and orientation affect how the form catches light. Riccardo then uses 3ds Max to develop the material, camera and illumination. The finished work is a digital render of this geometry, rather than a photograph of a fabricated object. No generative AI is used to create the artwork.
To read the image, follow a single edge as it moves through light and shadow. Notice where the projected path overlaps, opens or disappears behind another surface. The rail comes from a rule evolving through time; the artist’s composition lets us experience that motion as a still image. The aim is to reveal the hidden beauty of chaos theory.
A study in form
Placed next to its companion study, this piece invites comparison across two separate digital sculptures with a shared named reference. The vertical format concentrates attention on the outline; a reflective surface suggests metal and volume. The result moves a technical concept into a more contemplative setting, where visitors can look before they need to know how the circuit works.
Created by Riccardo Zerbinati through parametric modelling in Rhinoceros and rendering in 3ds Max, this is one of 40 vertical artworks made without generative AI.
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