Invertible Cube

Stainless steel flutters and flips inside out on itself to reveal a surprising parade of familiar shapes. Hexagons, triangles, circles, and stars all hide within the Invertible Cube, just waiting to be discovered.

Created by Paul Schatz in 1929, this kinetic sculpture represents a leap in mathematical thinking. Rather than move or rotate the cube, Schatz dissected and inverted the Platonic solid in a way that no one had ever done before. The pulsating movements of the shape are easy on the eyes and fun for the fingers. But there is surprising geometry at work within this flexible cube. The sweeping movement of the edges describes another of Schatz's famous discoveries—the Oloid! The beauty of mathematics forged in glittering metal.