Legacy Lab international created this interesting creative experiment titled Energy of Things: a canvas covered in thermochromic paint, with a variable heat source behind it.
Via art director Ivan Chen-Hsiu Liu:
Every object around us is made from substances, for example, wooden chairs, glass windows, cotton shirts, etc. These seemly static objects in fact possess energy, which we do not normally realize that it exists. Though we cannot see it. Energy is the origin of the cosmos, and it is also what objects become when they annihilate. Scientists also see the energy as a form of information. In this work, we make this energy and its dynamics visualizable by controlling the conduction of heat and its interaction with the thermochromic paint. A simple circle has various meaning and interpretation across different cultures or religions. The visual form of this work starts from a simple point origin, which then expands into a circle of many layers. Time becomes an essential element of the symbology. From the center of the painting, the heat spreads out to the edges through conduction. The spectral change of the thermochromic material due to the heat flow demonstrates the materiality of energy, which renders an otherwise ordinary picture into an ever-changing dynamic painting.
• Energy of Things | A Thermochromic Painting (Vimeo / Legacy Lab International)