“Father” from the series “Spin Family (Bosons and Fermions)” 2009, steel and silk, 7″ x 6″ x 6″.
We’ve posted previously about physicist, software designer, and artist Julian Voss-Andreae whose work lies at the intersection of science and sculpture. Last year, he created a massive metal protein sculpture linked to Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man. Now, Julian has made 30 objects inspired by his former physics research area of quantum physics. The objects are currently on display at the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland. More images and background on the work after the jump.From Voss-Andreae’s artist statement:
The term “Quantum Object”, although regularly used in physics, is really an oxymoron. An ‘object’ is something that lives completely in the paradigm of classical physics: It has an independent reality in itself, it behaves deterministically, and it has definite physical properties, such as occupying a well-defined spot in time and space. For the ‘quantum’ all those seemingly self-evident truths become false: Its reality is one that is relative to the observer, the principle of causality is violated, and other features of materiality such as clear boundaries in space and time, objective locatedness or even identity, do not pertain.
Above: “Prayer (Head sketch for Quantum Woman 2)”, 2009, masonite, paper, and steel hardware
14″ x 11″ x 10″ ; Below: “Night Path” (detail), 2009, painted steel and gold thread, 18″ x 19″ x 6″
More from Voss-Andreae:
After struggling with quantum physics for the last hundred years we cannot escape the fact that there simply are no consistent mental images we can create to understand the world as it is portrayed in quantum physics, because our brains are exquisitely adapted to making sense of the world on our scale, as perceived through our unaided senses. My hope is that the unique ability of art to transcend the confines of logic and literal representation and to offer glimpses of something beyond can help us open up to a deeper understanding of the world and to wean ourselves from the powerful grip classical physics has had over the last centuries on our every perception of reality.
