Porcupine descending a staircase

The porcupines sometimes come down from the mountain above our house, through a built-up area, and into our garden where they dine on the bulbs of arum lilies. I created a poem which is both static and mobile, and which uses the black and white of the lines of words to somehow reflect the black and white quills. I used flexagons to give the poem mobility and a recombinant quality reminiscent of the random-but-purposive movement of the porcupines.

Porcupine descending a staircase is a poem that can be folded into two different hexaflexagons.

Here are the instructions for making the 3D Hexaflexagon. It is a fun thing to do and the flexagons are really fascinating of themselves.

1: You will find the poem here: 3d hex. It’s a .pdf file. Print it out on A4 paper.

2: Using scissors, cut the poem out carefully along the outline. You will then have a strip shaped like the figure above, where black is cut away, and grey will be folded under.

3: Fold both ways along each line. Accuracy is very important.

4: Fold the triangles with grey lettering under their corresponding triangles, in the numbered order  to form a ‘snake’.

5: Glue the parts to be tucked under, using a clear, quick-drying household glue.

6: Finally, tuck the last tetrahedron (4 & 5) into the gap left in the opposite end of the strip, and glue it in place.

You will now have a hexaflexagon that is ready to roll. The poem will appear in new combinations.

But it won’t appear in as many combinations as the 2D hexaflexagon, which is essentially a folded strip that allows its facets to cycle in various combinations.

You can download and print the 2D version of the poem here: 2d hex 2

Print it out and cut out the two strips. Glue them together into one strip. You’ll find good instructions for folding it here: http://www.maths.uq.edu.au/~infinity/Infinity%2012/hexaflex.html

Search for ‘flexagon’ on the internet, for more on these fascinating folding figures.

• 3D hexaflexagon
• Flexagon
• hexaflexagon
• poem
• Porcupine