Help me chose a knot for a public sculpture!

[baldv1n]

Hey there!   

I have been commissioned to do a few sculptures in a public park. I proposed to make 3 - 5 rail-like sculptures; ropes that rise up from the ground and come together in different knots. Below is a rough sketch from the proposal I sent in.     



I'll tie the knots on this here rope, a mould will be made and then the sculpture is cast in bronze.



here are a few doodles




I'm leaning towards the: The Carrick Bend (ABOK # 1439), The Square (Reef) Knot (ABOK # 1402) and either a Water Knot (ABOK # 296) or The Hunter?s Bend (1425A in the revised version of ABOK).

I would love to hear what you guys think are three (or four) bends that should be cast in bronze. It might be the most common ones, the strongest ones, the oldest, the most beautiful, etc.

Ok!
I would love to get as many suggestions as possible, you don't have to give any reasons for you picks (unless you want to =)

Thank you all in advance and have a great day.

All the best, B 

[KnotMe]

I'll put in a vote for the Chinese button knot and Ian's shoelace knot.

One assumes that you don't want stub ends sticking straight up and being a hazard to clumsy people. 

[SS369]

Double or triple overhand bend.
Alpine eye knot
Figure 8 bend
Turks head

[roo]

I would love to hear what you guys think are three (or four) bends that should be cast in bronze. It might be the most common ones, the strongest ones, the oldest, the most beautiful, etc.

Ok!
I would love to get as many suggestions as possible, you don't have to give any reasons for you picks (unless you want to =)

Thank you all in advance and have a great day.

All the best, B

I would avoid the trite bends, but I would also avoid the pretty but pointless bends as well.  You want people to learn something and to keep wanting coming back for another look.  Here are some suggestions:

Zeppelin Bend (Do not omit this one)
https://knots.neocities.org/Zeppelin.html

Butterfly Bend
https://knots.neocities.org/butterflybend.html

Carrick Bend (natural condition, not seized flat)
https://www.animatedknots.com/carrick-bend-knot

And if you want something a bit out of the ordinary, a Trigger Bend may be fun:
https://knots.neocities.org/triggerbend.html

[wysper]

I would avoid the trite bends, but I would also avoid the pretty but pointless bends as well.  You want people to learn something and to keep wanting coming back for another.  Here are some suggestions:

Hey roo, I hear what you are saying but I would disagree slightly in this particular instance. As this is a public space, I think you need to consider whimsey, beauty and recognition as well.
I think there would be a very small number of lay people that would look closer and want to learn more, infact with some knots many people would just see a tangle - a sculpture and not a knot.

My thoughts would be to consider the local population, is it a fishing area, climbers, horse folk, sailors, campers? If so pick a knot that is special to some of the local interests/strengths and maybe go from there.

I also loved the idea of the shoelace knot, I know I would smile seeing that in one of those sculptures, or a bow tie.

For me I would love to see knots that connected to the local interests and activities.

Cheers
Greg

[Dan_Lehman]

Firstly, why presume to have an ends-joint knot?
--which offers a conceivable safety hazard of the . . .
ends (tails) !?

Why not something continuous, endLESS, such as
ABoK's #525, opened out into symmetric niceness
(what I call "symmetric Fig.9"?

And vis-a-vis this, why not MULTIPLE such knots?
(2, 3, ... )

IMO, the knot should look much the same from
either side of a vertical plane of view.

"Ashley's bend" #1452, with the would-be-tails
connected as a rising (or dropping) eye could
be nice.


--dl*
====

[baldv1n]

Thanks for the answers guys! (keep em coming=)

KnotMe: a shoelace knot is a funny idea, haha, thanks.

SS369: classics , very nice!

roo: thanks , solid suggestions , I agree the Trigger Bend looks great , might be a bit much for the thick rope I'm using though, I'll give it a try.

wysper: thanks and exactly, these knots are symbolic rather than educational, I'll ask some elders about the history of the place, but I think there aren't any specific trade related knots tied to the aria. A Reef Knot and a Carrick, for example, are recognised everywhere, perhaps not by name nor attributes but they have a timelessness about them and are so pure and simple, and beautiful.

Dan_Lehman: I hear you Dan, thanks for the suggestions. Indeed a knot with hidden ends would look good but this time I want to emphasise the joining of two, and how a knot holds them together through a simple and beautiful structure. The ends wont be a serious safety hazard, I think, no more than a fence pole or a decorative what ever that one finds in public parks (I'll also grind and sand the ends a bit so there wont be any sharp dangers). The sculptures will be placed near a pond in the park so people will always approach them from the same direction, facing the front side of the knot (unless they've jumped in the pond and swim towards them!). Thank you so much for you thoughts though, these ideas might be useful for another project!   

Ok, have a great day and thanks again.

All the best, B

[Dan_Lehman]

Thanks for the answers guys! (keep em coming=)
...
Dan_Lehman: I hear you Dan, thanks for the suggestions.
Indeed a knot with hidden ends ...

?!  I said nothing about hidden ends; rather, of NO ends
--i.p., making Ashley's Bend #1452 into a mid-line eye knot.
Or his #1425 (not "a"), which can be seen as a variant of
#525, and is an underappreciated knot (i.p., by Ashley).

I want to emphasise the joining of two,
and how a knot holds them together through a simple and beautiful structure.

Fair enough.  Though one could be running two ropes
up and then the pair going through a few knots, which
structure might have greater stability.

--dl*
====

[KC]

i think looking for more iconic knots than scientific and simple/graceful/symmetrical to eye is best as smooth/non-distracting.
.
This wouldn't be for a knot test, but rather a glamour show.

[baldv1n]

Hey Dan

?!  I said nothing about hidden ends; rather, of NO ends

I see.. now I hear you Dan, my bad. But yeah like I said I'm looking for them bends for this one.
Thanks for the suggestions though=)

Hey KC thanks for commenting!

i think looking for more iconic knots

iconic/simple/graceful/symmetrical/smooth all sounds good to me!

do you have any suggestions? 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok have a nice day all, and keep them bend suggestions coming.

Thanks, all the best , B 

[SS369]

Reever bend
Sheepshank
Single rope Braid
Surgeons knot
Monkey Fist (midline)
Uni-knot
Mather Walker

[KC]

i think some fine knots been mentioned that fit what i described:
Square, Carrick, BFly and perhaps Whatknot
.
By contrast
i really like Sheet Bend ; but is not symmetrical to eye as thing of simplistic beauty to commoners
>>beyond what a knot lover would see
.
i don't think of this so much as test 'do you know what that knot is'
but rather gaiety of wedding bells etc.

[TS]

 Cast MY vote for The Multiple Overhand Lanyard Knot  (ABOK # 566) - This knot is SO COOL! It is easy to make, once you get the hang of it, in almost any sized rope.
 
It is especially fun, in that most people cannot figure out how you made it in the first place!  It is one of the most beautiful lanyard knots, in my opinion, for it is simple, elegant and completely symmetrical.  Yet, ultimately, it's just a multiple overhand knot, manipulated to become a stack of loops!

Ashley gives a clear description of how to form this beautiful knot.