Rhapsody in White; Second place, People’s Choice, Artists’ Choice, Poster for 2001 (January 2000)

Robert Longhurst, Dan Schwalbe, Stan Wagon, Andy Cantrell (Macalester College student).

This was fun: In only our second year we created, under Robert’s guidance, one of our best sculptures ever. And it appealed to everyone: the general public, the other snow sculptors, and the judges. The two supports for the overhang were removed at the last minute, with no movement. Satisfying. Minimal surfaces resist deformation! The shape is a minimal surface, known as Enneper’s surface. It can be graphed using the parametric form:

Longhurst’s remarkable model sculpted out of bubinga wood.