Perhaps inspired by the most recent holiday and the fireworks show I witnessed down on Lake Union, as seen in the above photo I took from the new South Lake Union Park, I have been looking at a lot of imagery related to displays of light and the actions of electricity. However, it’s not the overall display that has caught my attention but rather the details.
Some of the most intriguing imagery is that of Hiroshi Sugimoto in his project titled Lighting Fields. The artists description of this project:
The word electricity is thought to derive from the ancient Greek elektron, meaning “amber.” When subject to friction, materials such as amber and fur produce an effect that we now know as static electricity. Related phenomena were studied in the eighteenth century, most notably by Benjamin Franklin. To test his theory that lightning is electricity, in 1752 Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm. He conducted the experiment at great danger to himself; in fact, other researchers were electrocuted while conducting similar experiments. He not only proved his hypothesis, but also that electricity has positive and negative charges.
In 1831, Michael Faraday’s formulation of the law of electromagnetic induction led to the invention of electric generators and transformers, which dramatically changed the quality of human life. Far less well-known is that Faraday’s colleague, William Fox Talbot, was the father of calotype photography. Fox Talbot’s momentous discovery of the photosensitive properties of silver alloys led to the development of positive-negative photographic imaging. The idea of observing the effects of electrical discharges on photographic dry plates reflects my desire to re-create the major discoveries of these scientific pioneers in the darkroom and verify them with my own eyes.
The images take on an interesting quality that exhibit the characteristsics of such things as water, land and vegetation – painted with brushes of light. The intricacies are amazing with softer areas that look like hair or grassy hills with bright points of light sprouting into trees. Simply stunning.
I recently came acros an old article from Environmental Graffiti about the glow worm, a sophisticated cave-dwelling predator that creates an elegant, glowing landscape that lures in its prey. This reminded me of a a rather old project out of Athens, Greece that I thought to be quite lovely. The temporary, interactive urban installation was called White Noise White Light and was installed as one of nine installations during the 2004 Olympics and was sited at the base of the Acropolis which provided quite a stunning backdrop.
I don’t think the designers at Howeler + Yoon Architecture actually used the glow worm as their muse but nevertheless, there is a fascinating connection in form and somewhat in function as well. People are drawn in by points of light light like a moth to a flame but instead of being snared, the light brightens and moves as they pass through the sea of fiber-optic stalks. The movement produces a visual flow of light and at the same time activates a tiny hidden speaker.
From the designers, “Comprised of a 50′x50′ grid of fiber optics and speakers, ‘White Noise / White Light’ is an interactive sound and light field that responds to the movement of people as they walk through it. What appears at first to be a static, neutral and transparent grid of vertical markers dissolves into a luminous sound-scape by night. As pedestrians enter into the fiber optic field their presence and movement are traced by each stalk unit, transmitting white light from LED’s and white noise from speakers below. Just as white light is made of the full spectrum of color, white noise contains every frequency within the range of hearing in equal amounts. If motion is detected, the white LED illumination grows brighter while the white noise increases in volum. Once motion is no longer detected, the light and sound fade into dimness and silence.”
The upcoming holiday reminds me of my fascination with spider webs and their delicate patterns and amazing architectural structures. While I’m not exactly excited about the trees surrounding my house providing a rather large safe haven for a freakishly large breed of these leggy creatures, I’m constantly reminded of their amazing spinning abilities and acrobatics. Of course, I’m not the only one fascinated with their creations. Argentinian artist and architect, Tomás Saraceno, has created a stunning piece based on the art of web spinning called 14 Billions made entirely of black rope.
From Stockholm’s Bonniers konsthall, “In collaboration with spider researchers and astrophysicists, Tomás Saraceno has spent several years developing the 400 cubic metre installation that is exhibited at Bonniers Konsthall. An enormous model of the poisonous spider the Black Widow’s web, the point of departure for the new work is how scientists use images of spiders’ webs to describe the origin and structure of the universe. The gigantic spider’s web, especially made for the main gallery of Bonniers Konsthall, consists of elastic black rope which will span floor to ceiling.”
