Domino is the name of a family of games involving dominoes, flat tile-like pieces with numbers on their ends that can be stacked and placed end to end in long lines. When the first domino in a line is tipped, it causes all the other tiles to fall over, creating an intricate pattern of overlapping lines and colors. In addition to being used for games, dominoes can also be arranged to create 3D structures and can even be made into art pieces.
The word domino is an Italian word, and the game itself was invented in Italy in the 18th Century. The word and the game spread to France where they became a fad. In France, domino was also used to describe a type of puzzle in which you were given a pattern and asked to place tiles on it so that their ends matched. The other kind of domino puzzle involved arranging tiles on the table based on their arithmetic properties, such as totals of lines of dominoes or the number of domino halves.
In the games of domino, players score points by laying tiles so that their exposed ends match in a row. This is known as “stitching up” the ends. A double (one with a number on one side and blank on the other) is always played at right angles to the previous tile. In most games, the number on both sides of a domino must add up to a multiple of five or more, and when that happens, the player is credited with the number of points indicated by all the dots on its exposed ends.
Hevesh, who specializes in creating domino art, follows a version of the engineering-design process when designing her installations. She first considers the theme or purpose of the piece and brainstorms images or words she might want to use. She then makes a model of the layout, using dominoes to represent the different parts of her design.
When she’s happy with the layout, Hevesh begins to make the actual installation. She lays out the largest sections of her design first, then connects them to each other. The whole setup may take a day or more to complete. She often films the entire process so she can see what works and what doesn’t, and make precise adjustments as needed.
The phrase domino effect describes any series of events that start with a simple action and ultimately lead to greater–and sometimes catastrophic–consequences. The term can be used literally, referring to the domino effect of physical dominoes, or it can also be applied to events that occur in other areas such as business or politics. For example, when a company’s leadership changes, it can have a domino effect by leading to other leadership changes, or it can be used to describe the impact of one action on a system such as global finance or politics. For instance, if a political event leads to war in the Middle East, it can have a domino effect on oil prices and on the economy of the world.
