SYMMETRY. Rotation by 180 degrees.
INSPIRATION. Created at the Gathering for Gardner, January 1998.
STORY. I first heard about magician Meir Yedid when I was a student at Stanford. One of my interests is creating mathematical figures with nothing but your hands. I've figured out ways to create tetrahedra, cubes, hypercubes, knots and other shapes with anywhere from two to twelve hands.
Stanford mathematician Persi Diaconis told me about a magician in New York who had developed all sorts of tricks using his hands. I wrote to him and got his catalog. I learned about an act he had created called Finger Fantasy, in which he makes fingers vanish from his hand one by one.
Years later I met Meir at the Gathering for Gardner, an occasional invitation-only event honoring Martin Gardner. Knowing that he would be attending, I created this design for him.
Notice that not only does MEIR turn upside down to become YEDID, both figures appear to be human hands! This is one of the few cases where I've been able to work three meanings into one design.
You can read more about Meir Yedid's magic on his web site appropriately named mymagic.com. This is a site for magicians, only, so SHHH, don't tell how it's done.