The Art of Domino
Domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block used as a game piece. A domino has one side marked with a pattern of dots resembling those on dice and the other blank or identically patterned. Most dominoes have a numbering system of suits, such as the suit of threes or the suit of fives, and a zero suit.
In a game of domino, players take turns placing domino pieces on the table positioning them so that one end of the domino touches another in order to form a domino chain. A domino chain must continue to grow in length as more tiles are played until either the chain is capped or there are no more moves possible.
The first domino that is placed is called a starting domino. A starting domino is a double that has a total of five dots on its two exposed ends. When a player plays a domino in such a way that the exposed ends match, then the number of dots on each end is counted and scored as points. The scoring continues as more tiles are placed on the table and then added to the starting domino.
A domino is traditionally made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony with contrasting black or white pips. Some sets also use a variety of other materials such as metals, ceramic clay, or even frosted glass. In the past, some dominoes were carved from stone such as marble or granite.
When a domino is positioned correctly, it can have an enormous impact. In the case of a starting domino, the force it exerts is enough to knock over several more dominoes. However, as the chains get longer and more dominoes are added to the starting one, their weight becomes greater than the force of the initial push. As the chain grows in size, the force of gravity also becomes more significant and eventually the starting domino will fall.
For Hevesh, the best part of creating these mind-blowing domino setups is watching them all come together at the end of a show. Before she builds a full-scale setup, Hevesh tests out smaller sections of the arrangement. She films these tests in slow motion so that she can make precise corrections if needed.
The final step is to bring the domino setups out in front of the public and let them watch it all unfold. Hevesh has won many awards for her domino art shows, and she loves interacting with the crowds and answering questions about how she did the effects in her installations.
The domino theory is the idea that events in one area will cause other areas to react in a similar way, like dominoes falling over each other. This theory is often used in explaining why a particular country might be at war with a neighboring country. While the theory is largely based on speculation, it has led to the development of many theories about international relations and foreign policy.