Richard Taylor from the University of Oregon Īmerican painter, Jackson Pollock, standing in front of one his drip paintings Additionally, it explored the connection between the characteristics of fractals, and the long-term aesthetic appeal of Pollock’s splatter paintings.ĭr. The study concluded that the works of American painter, Jackson Pollock, display fractal patterns. Richard Taylor from the University of Oregon. This article describes a study conducted by four scientists, one of whom is Dr. My research about fractals in general began with a course reading about fractal complexity, its presence in nature, and its application to the drip-painting art of American painter, Jackson Pollock 9. The extreme similarity between the shape of the spirals within these various phenomena led to my research of the mathematics behind this omnipresent spiral.įrom this point on, I focused my following research on the mathematics of the Fibonacci sequence, its connection to fractal art and mathematics, and its ubiquitous presence in the natural world. Kahn’s “Fire Vortex” display is basically a tornado of fire! This insight into the physics of this particular display provoked my curiosity in the physical shapes and patterns formed by tornados and other “spiraling” natural phenomena (the formation of hurricanes, the shape of spiral galaxies, etc.). The study involved the usage of velocity measurements to determine that the basic flow structure is identical among fire and tornado-like vortices 7. I came across a peer-reviewed journal article that discussed the results of a study, which examined this very relationship. Ned Kahn’s “Fire Vortex,” located in Winterthur, Switzerland īecause this display functions so much like a tornado, I researched the characteristics of vortex flow structure and how they compare to the properties of a fire vortex. To say the least, difficulty and creative experimentation have played a pretty key role in the design and construction of my own creative sculpture.Īnother one of Kahn’s sculptures that I found particularly fascinating is his “Fire Vortex” display. However, this difficulty and value of innovation and creative experimentation are key to the development of an intellectually interesting display that engages viewers to interact and explore. Like most of the other “hard-to-manage phenomena” 5 that Ned Kahn works with, the creation of artificial clouds is no exception in terms of difficulty. While seemingly simple in process, this art form is complex, and requires a substantial amount of patience and practice. Simply put, the water droplets and smoke particles stick to each other, and a cloud forms. To create this transient work of art, Smilde mists water into the air, and releases a burst of chemical “fog” from a smoke machine into the mist. One of Berndnaut Smilde’s cloud displays In an entertainment review published in New Scientist, author Christine Ottery outlines the cloud-making process employed by a Dutch weather artist, Berndnaut Smilde 7. The sheer absurdity of a single cloud suspended among an artistic sculpture is fascinating, and the science behind it makes it exceptionally more interesting. Ned Kahn’s “Cloud Arbor,” located in Pittsburgh, PA Many of Ned Kahn’s other sculptures incorporate suspended fog or clouds, and I was curious about the process of their creation. The position and intensity of the light changes depending on the time of day during which it is observed. Kahn uses a material called a diffraction grating in his “Prism Tunnel” sculpture in order to create a fascinating, ever-changing light display. The most well known example of this phenomenon is the dispersion of white light into its constituent colors. Light refraction is simply the bending of light by a foreign medium, which changes the speed of the wave 6. Most people encounter light refraction at some point or another during their lifetime, whether in the form of Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of The Moon” album cover, or the rainbow that appears when light shines through a faceted piece of glass. Pink Floyd’s famous “Dark Side of The Moon” album cover Ned Kahn’s “Prism Tunnel,” located in San Marino, CA For example, the creation of Kahn’s “Prism Tunnel” display in San Marino, California required some basic knowledge about light refraction. Because Kahn’s work focuses on the scientific natural processes in the world, most, if not all of his displays require a basic understanding of related scientific concepts. Just like the exhibits at San Francisco’s Exploratorium that inspired Ned Kahn’s artwork, Kahn’s own work involves numerous scientific concepts and applications.

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