Presenters:   Elio Caccavale   Dawn Danby   Olaf Dreyer   Juan Geuer   Rob Godman   John Hatch   Kenneth A. Huff   Mantissa   Miroslav Lovric   Sally McKay   Eric Raymond   S. David Rosner   Mariano Sardón   Frederic P. Schuller   Krister Shalm   Lydia Sharman &   Stephen Morris   Donald Spector   Joseph Thywissen   Marion Tränkle   Koala Yip Symposium Images of Sound Relating Physics and Design by Lydia Sharman and Stephen Morris Concordia University and University of Toronto This presentation, given jointly by the physicist, Dr. Stephen Morris, and the artist designer, Dr. Lydia Sharman, connects their respective research into patterns created on vibrating plates, and by audio frequencies in a fluid medium, particularly the experiments of Ernst Chladni and Hans Jenny. In 1970's, Hans Jenny, a Swiss doctor, researcher and artist, undertook a series of experiments, in which simple audio frequencies are used to excite a liquid medium and so revealed the visual characteristics of vibrational effects and wave phenomena. The images have geometric structures and progressions similar to the mandalas, patterns and tessellations found in the art of many cultures. Dr. Sharman will show a video of patterns created by audio frequencies in a liquid medium, their relationship to the geometry of traditional Morocco zillij patterns, and the influence of these connections in her own art practice. Hans Jenny's experiments both postdated and predated a large body of work in physics. The idea of visualizing vibration in this way goes back to Robert Hooke, who wrote about the same effect in 1680. In 1786, Ernst Chladni invented a method of visualizing the vibration of plates by sprinkling powder on them that lead to several advances in both mathematics and acoustics. Experiments on the vibration of plates with powder or fluid covering them, were taken up by Michael Faraday in the 1830's. These phenomena have only recently become the subject of scientific scrutiny. All these effects are reproduced in Jenny's experiments, including some that have been rediscovered by physicists in recent years. Dr. Morris will discuss the history and recent developments in the physics of such patterns. Biography: Lydia Sharman is Professor Emeritus in Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University. She is author of, Teaching Math Through Islamic Art, and, The Amazing Book of Shapes, selling over 100,000 copies in five languages. She has practiced as a designer in London, New York and Montreal, and written extensively for European design journals. Stephen Morris is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Toronto. His research involves experiments on emergent patterns in fluids, granular media and fracture. He is also interested in patterns in Nature, and in the history of physics. He appears intermittently on the Discovery Channel.   Page Top Copyright © 2004 Subtle Technologies Festival