Dominoes

Dominoes are small, flat tiles with one or more pips (or dots). A domino’s pips are arranged in a specific pattern, and each piece has a unique number of pips. Dominoes come in many shapes and sizes, and are used for various games and art projects. They’re also a popular component of Rube Goldberg machines.

Dominos are most often made of clay, bone or ivory with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted on them. Other materials, such as agate and crystal, are sometimes used to give sets a more interesting look or feel. These natural and manmade materials tend to be heavier than polymer-based ones.

The most basic set of dominoes has 28 tiles. These are shuffled face down and form the “stock” or “boneyard.” Players draw a number of tiles from the stock, depending on the rules of the game being played. Some games allow players to buy tiles from the stock, which increases their available tiles. Buying tiles may also increase a player’s score.

Once a player has drawn tiles, he must play them before drawing more. Each tile must be placed adjacent to an existing domino in the chain, unless the domino is a double. A double can be played square to an existing domino or cross-ways across it. The shape of the chain develops snake-line at random according to the whims of the players and limitations of the playing surface.

When a domino is toppled, it creates a pulse of energy that travels down the line. This energy is similar to the speed of a nerve impulse in your body, and can have devastating effects if it hits something too hard.

Dominoes are a key tool in the artist Hevesh’s arsenal, and her most spectacular creations can take several nail-biting minutes to fall. Hevesh starts each project with a theme or purpose in mind and brainstorms ideas for how to arrange the dominoes. She might use the dominoes to make grids that form pictures or walls, or she might build 3-D structures such as towers and pyramids. Some of the largest installations require thousands of dominoes to fall. Like any other piece of art, her creations can inspire people and invoke a sense of wonder.