07-30. Kaolite #1.

If diamonds are a girl best friend, Kaolin should be voted writer’ best friend. Over 50% of this mineral goes into the producing the best and the softest, paper available. Silky, smooth, and shiny – three quality well appreciated by photographers, artists and all that still use paper to express their creative self. I’ll explore its geometry this week.

Kaolinite – or kaolin was known centuries ago in the Orient and was used to glaze clay and porcelain. It was brought to the West in the mid-1700 by a French Jesuit. Today it has made its way in the production of paper,  pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and various product health products.

The jury is still out regarding its geometry and structure – monoclinic or triclinic. All agree though, its symmetry is a two translation P1 symmetry. In mathematics, it would be called – periodic – meaning a repetition that happens regularly in all directions.

The soft bluish glow of the crystal and the dynamic arrangement of its geometry make it a worthy candidate for a cubism style investigation. Maybe I should title this image “Juan Gris’ sketch book”. Even the vertical view of the crystal structure on the left starts to look like a guitar – if you put your mind to it!