Art and Physics

Year 2 Skills Essay – Physics in Artworks and Visual Art in Physics Dana May Ortmann Gilbert
22/02/2016 Tutor: Chris Hawkes
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Physics in Artworks and Visual Art in Physics
by Dana May Ortmann Gilbert
Ask anyone what they think are the most opposite fields of study and some will respond
with sports exercise and fashion or history and geology, but the most frequent answer will
be art and science or more specifically visual arts and physics. Although this is the case, I
found myself at an exhibition by Yayoi Kusama admiring her infinity mirror room (see Figure
1) when my friend turned to me and asked why the mirror tunnel resulted in the further
reflections looking green – and of course, I could only answer this using my knowledge of
physics. So perhaps visual arts and physics is more related than we think. This is why I have
chosen to write an essay exploring the connection between the two fields of study. More
specifically how artists use physics to create extraordinary art and similarly how physicists
use artwork to promote physics.
To explore these connections between art and physics I will look further into Yayoi Kusama’s
infinity room, Fabian Oefner’s work with ferrofluids named Millefoiri and the light sculpture
on the Niels Bohr Institute’s façade illustrating the work at the LHC.
To answer my friend’s question about the green
mirrors we must first explore what colours are. There are
many opposing theories to what colour is and how we
see it[1], but for this discussion, I will dismiss the
psychological considerations and use a simple definition
depending on the reflection of light by objects. When
white light (all wavelengths) is shone on an object, some
of the light will be absorbed (and re-emitted) and some
will be reflected immediately depending on the electron
configuration of the atoms on the object’s surface. If for
an example all the light is absorbed the object will appear
black, if it is all reflected the object will appear white, if
only the photons with wavelengths around 510nm get
reflected the object will appear green and so on.
Objects have colour determined by which photons are reflected off them, so what
colour is a mirror? Some theories say that a mirror is a type of white, as it reflects
everything. If, for an example, you put a tomato in front of a mirror, then the mirror is
exposed to red light and we therefore perceive the mirror as red. If you instead place a pile
of crayons in front of the mirror, then the mirror will be exposed to a range of colours and
we will therefore perceive the mirror as all the colours of the crayons. Referring back to the
above explanation of colour, we know that an object reflecting all colours is white and we
can therefore conclude that the mirror’s colour is “smart white”[2].
Figure 1: Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room.
(Picture by Daniela Uribe.)
22/02/2016
Chris Hawkes

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The idea of mirrors being a smart white
colour only applies to ideal mirrors; in reality, they
are found to reflect more green light than any
other colour. This phenomenon has been
examined by R. Lee and J. Hernández-Andrés [3].
They first examined the reflectance of silver used
for the backing of common mirrors and the
transmission of soda-lime silica substrate (the
glass used for mirrors) in the range of 380nm < λ <
780nm (resulting in the graph seen in Figure 2a).
Here they found that the glass transmits the most
around 510nm and that the silver reflects
relatively uniformly for λ > 460nm, but transmits
much less at λ < 460nm. By testing the reflectance
of several common mirrors, the combined effect
of the above measurements became clear as they
found the maximum reflectance to occur at
560nm. However it should be noted that the
reflectance only varied by approximately 10% in
the visible spectrum. The study continued to
examine a mirror tunnel proving the increased
green reflectance. The reflectance measured after
one reflection and after 50 reflections are shown
in Figure 2b (please note that the curve
representing the 50 reflections has been
normalised, as it is much dimmer than the first
reflection). Here it is clearly seen how light of
wavelength 550nm is reflected much more than
any other colour (and the general brightness of
the reflected light decreases resulting in a fade
from the “correct colour” to a greenish colour and
ultimately to black).
We now understand that the mirror tunnel in Yayoi
Kusama’s Infinity Room had a green shine due to the
mirrors’ materials reflecting and transmit more
green light than any other colour.
Consequences of Kusama’s art can be
explained with physical concepts, but Austrian
Fabian Oefner intentionally seeks out ways of
transforming theoretical physics to art. He made the
beautiful photo series named millefoiri including
photographs such as that seen in Figure 3. He
created the art by placing ferrofluids (black) in
Figure 2a: Reflectance and Transmission of
materials for common mirrors.
Figure 2b: Reflectance after 1 and 50 reflections.
(Figures 2a and 2b from [3])
Figure 3: Millefoiri by Fabian Oefner (from [15])

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magnetic fields and then placing a variety of watercolours onto the fluid (using a syringe for
precision) resulting in all the different colours around the ferrofluid[4]. To explain the
patterns created by Oefner I will first explain what a ferrofluid consists of and then proceed
to explain its behaviour in magnetic fields, which in turn may explain the pattern in Oefner’s
artwork.
A simple explanation of ferrofluids are carrier fluids with suspended nanosized
magnetic particles. Although metals are technically ferrofluids they are rarely referred to as
ferrofluids, as they would only be influenced by very strong magnetic fields at extremely
high temperatures[5]. Usual ferrofluids consist of magnetic particles (or littles clusters of
molecules) suspended in a liquid, usually these particles consist of approximately 6 x 103
magnetite (Fe3O4) molecules[6]. To avoid these particles attracting each other, sticking
together and thusly falling to the bottom of the fluid, surfactants are added to the mixture.
Surfactants used in ferrofluids are molecules similar to a long chain of atoms with different
properties at each end. One end may be polar and the other non-polar. The non-polar end
(or polar end depending on the elements used) will stick to the magnetic particles and
thusly the polar (or non-polar) ends will form a sphere around each particle repelling the
other particles with a similar charged sphere around them.
A simple ferrofluid consists of a carrier fluid with
suspended magnetic particles and surfactants preventing the
particles from agglomerating, but why does it create the weird
shapes in magnetic fields (see Figure 4)? All things in our
physical world strive to achieve stability and to minimize their
potential energies, for a ball that results in it rolling down hills,
for falling water it results in the reduction of the water’s surface
tension by minimizing its surface area and for a compass needle
it results in its alignment with the magnetic field lines. For
ferrofluids, all of the three above examples apply. The fluid’s
shape can be predicted by the simplified ferro-hydro-dynamic
Bernoulli equation[8],
U = Ug + Us + Um,
where Ug is the energy due to the gravitational potential, Us is the energy stored in the
surface tension and Um is the magnetic field potential. The ferrofluid tries to minimize the
above U. When there is no magnetic field the ferrofluid acts as all other liquids, it is drawn
by gravity and has a flat surface (if in a steady container, not in free fall), but when a
magnetic field is introduced (above a critical value) the ferrofluid minimises its potential
energy by aligning with the magnetic field lines. Of course the gravitational field still affects
the fluid and the surface tension still has an effect on the energy resulting in the
characteristic peaks of ferrofluids in magnetic fields seen in Figure 4. The spikes are however
not just formed due to the energy, but also due to the material. As it is subjected to a
magnetic field all the particles in the fluid align in the same way as tiny bar magnets would,
which causes all the spikes to repel each other (and because of this the peaks do not have a
circular base, but a hexagonal base).
Figure 4: Ferrofluids affected by
several magnets. (From [7].)

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After subjecting the ferrofluid to a magnetic field, creating the characteristic peaks
Oefner added the paint[4]. The ferrofluid used in his artwork is hydrophobic resulting in the
fluid and paint remaining separate. The ferrofluid tried to maintain its stabile position with
minimum U according to the magnetic field, but it is obstructed by the paint resulting in the
peaks collapsing into small walls.
Oefner used physical phenomena to create patterns for his photographs, similarly in
Denmark the Niels Bohr Institute (the physics department at the University of Copenhagen)
used data from CERN to create a pattern used for their light sculpture on the facade[9]. The
staff wished to mediate the work done at the LHC so a team
of two physicists, two artists and a programmer was
established to create the light sculpture seen in Figure 5
called the NBI Colliderscope. The sculpture consists of 96
LEDs attached to the wall in a hexagonal pattern. The LEDs
turn on according to signals directly from the Transition
Radiation Tracker (TRT) in ATLAS as a visual representation of
the data.
To understand the patterns created for the NBI
Colliderscope, we must first investigate the physics of the
TRT. As the proton beams collide, various particles are
emitted from the collision site. The main function of the TRT
is to detect transition radiation and use the data to extrapolate a trajectory and determine
whether it was caused by an electron or a pion (or other particles). When a charged particle
crosses a boundary between materials with different dielectric properties, transition
radiation occurs as the particle conserves the continuous electric field by emitting
photons[10]. The amount of photons emitted depends on the Lorenz factor, γ, and the
boundary crossed[11]. This means that an electron in the ATLAS detector will result in more
transition radiation than a pion when passing through the TRT (since electrons have higher γ
than pions). The TRT detector establishes transition radiation and detects it via the following
setup. Almost 300,000 tubes (or straws) are packed around the collision site[12]. Each straw’s
walls is manufactured by combining kapton film, aluminium and carbon-polyimide. The
various materials used for the walls were chosen to optimise both stability of the straws and
to provide the dielectric boundaries causing the required transition radiation. Each straw is
filled with a gas mainly consisting of Xenon (70%). The gas absorbs the radiation causing an
ionised path and thusly allows the trajectory of the charged particle to be detected[13]. The
straws contain a thin, central, gold wire, which has a voltage across it causing it to attract
the negative ions created by the passing of the charged particle. This causes a current in the
wire, which is measured and stored as data. If an electron passed through the straw more
ions will be created in the gas causing a higher current to be detected than if a pion crossed
the barrier.
Charged particles cross the barrier of the straws in the TRT allowing the detector to
predict certain variables concerning the particle, and these variables are used to create the
pattern used for the NBI light sculpture. The LEDs are designed to be analogous with the
Figure 5: The NBI Colliderscope.
(From [9])

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straws in the TRT, in such a way that if the straw is ionised the respective LED lights up. If
the current measured corresponds to an electron the LEDs will light for 2 seconds and slowly
fade away[14], thusly being more predominant in the pattern than other particles. More
generally, the pattern formed by the light re-creates the trajectory of the particle; hence,
curves of light are seen on the Niels Bohr Institutes’ façade in a similar way as the charged
particles’ paths are curved due to the magnetic field in the detector.
In conclusion, Yayoi Kusama may strive for her audience to question their spiritual
lives when observing her infinity room, but it may also result in questions that can only be
answered by the use of physics. On the contrary, Fabian Oefner and the Niels Bohr Institute
create art to motivate their audience to ask question about the physics used and to create
an admiration towards the artistic beautiful side of physics. Even though it may not be clear
on a daily basis: physics can be beautiful. The beauty of physics may be displayed as a side
effect of the art as with Kusama’s mirror tunnel. It may very intentionally be used (as with
Oefner’s Millefiori) to create artwork. Or perhaps it can be interpreted to draw attention to
the ground-breaking physics done by physicists all over the world (as with the NBI
Colliderscope).
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References
[1] Berry, M. (2012). Color. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/color/
[2] Stevens, M. (2012, Aug 3). What Color Is A Mirror? Retrieved from Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yrZpTHBEss
[3] J. Hernández-Andrés & R. L. Lee (2003). Virtual tunnels and green glass: The colors of common
mirrors.
[4] Oefner, F. (2013, October 3). Psychedelic Science | Fabian Oefner | TED Talks. Retrieved from
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh3_wYHdeVs
[5] Odenbach, S. (2001). Magnetoviscous Effects in Ferrofluids. Bremen: Springer. P. 7.
[6] Odenbach, S. (2001). Magnetoviscous Effects in Ferrofluids. Bremen: Springer. P. 13 – 14.
[7] Ferrofluids. (2016). Retrieved from http://mesa.ac.nz/mesa-
resources/demonstrations/ferrofluids/
[8] M. Erickstad & P. Broberg (2007). Pattern formation of driven Magnetorheological Fluid systems.
University of Minnesota.
[9] NBI Colliderscope. (2016). Retrieved from University of Copenhagen:
http://colliderscope.nbi.ku.dk/english/
[10] ATLAS Collaboration. (1998). Electron identification with a prototype of the Transition
Radiation Tracker for the ATLAS experiment. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 200-
215.
[11] A. Andronic & J. P. Wessels. (2011). Transition Radiation Detectors
[12] ATLAS Collaboration. (2008). The ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) proportional drift
tube: design and. Journal of Instrumentation.
[13] DVD, T. A. (Director). (n.d.). The Particles Strike Back [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from Atlas:
http://www.atlas.ch/multimedia/transition-radiation-tracker.html#episode-2
[14] E-mail correspondence with T. C. Petersen.
[15] Oefner, F. (2012). Millefiori. Retrieved from Fabian Oefner's Portfolio:
http://fabianoefner.com/?portfolio=millefiori

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