Reflection, Magnetic and Cymatics

Bridging the Gap Between Art and Science

Commissioned by Pump House Gallery, a series of installations were produced to enhance the audience’s engagement in the exhibition, 3 Branches of the Same Tree (April 23rd to May 31st, 2015).

The project aimed for the audience’s better understanding towards the underlining connections between art and science addressed in the exhibition through three different hands-on activities.

Materials Provided for the Activities

Experimentation Station One: Light Reflections

Inspired by Semiconductor’s work of light reflecting off Cirrus clouds, the audience can create their own cloud like shape out of silver mirror paper.  After attaching the cloud onto the clips inside the structure, a moving reflection would be casted onto the inside of the box which echoes the visual aesthetics of the art piece.

Experimentation Station Two: Magnetic Movements

See how gravity and magnetic forces combine. The audience can decorate the tree installation by making a leave out of steel wire and hang it on to a branch. The challenge is to use a magnet to make it move like wind rustling leaves in a tree without letting the magnet touch the leaves.

Experimentation Station Three: Sound Systems 

This activity was designed for the audience to find out more about how sound creates vibrations. The audience can twist buttons on a function generator to generate different frequency of the sound and see how different pitches create different cynamics patterns.  

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Solo project. Photo by Xinglin Sun.