Gary Fisher
Rotating Cylindrical Field, 1991 5”x13.5”x6.75”
(glass tube, proprietary colloidal suspension, polarizers, light source, motor, fan, MDF cabinet)
Rotating Cylindrical Field, 1991 5”x13.5”x6.75”, detail
Birefringence Studies
This series evolved in the 1980's when I was looking for artistic applications of polarization phenomena exploiting the use of birefringent materials and liquids to generate static and dynamic visual displays. My early works (not shown) consisted of plastics of various shapes cyclically stressed by mechanical means (cams, motors).
Two of the pieces below are static ("Stressed Prism 1", "Stressed Prism 2"); two are dynamic. "Rotating Cylindrical Field" employs a birefringent liquid suspension and a rotating polarizer to generate a moving barber pole effect. In "Rotating Stressed Sphere" a heat stressed and rapidly cooled acrylic sphere rotates on a random motion mechanism to display a constantly changing view of its internal stress patterns.
Two of the pieces below are static ("Stressed Prism 1", "Stressed Prism 2"); two are dynamic. "Rotating Cylindrical Field" employs a birefringent liquid suspension and a rotating polarizer to generate a moving barber pole effect. In "Rotating Stressed Sphere" a heat stressed and rapidly cooled acrylic sphere rotates on a random motion mechanism to display a constantly changing view of its internal stress patterns.
© 2017 - 2019 Gary Fisher
Stressed Prism 1, 1985 9”x8.25”x8”
(internally stressed machined acrylic prism, polarizers, diffusion screen, light source, acrylic enclosure)
Stressed Prism 2, 1985 13.5”x8.25”x8.25”
(internally stressed machined acrylic prism, polarizers, diffusion screen, light source, acrylic enclosure)
Rotating Stressed Sphere, 1985 4”x6”x6” (edition - 5)
(internally stressed acrylic sphere, polarizers, diffusion screen, light source, motor, acrylic enclosure)
Four Art Webcam Images, 1998
(water-filled vessel with clear bottom, diffuse light source, polarizers, assorted birefringent materials, pump, nozzle, web-connected camera, software, uploaded images (640x480, 72dpi)
In 1998 I designed an apparatus that would continuously circulate a number of pre-stressed birefringent shapes in a diffusely illuminated water-filled vessel. Polarizers made the instantaneous patterns visible to a webcam positioned above the vessel. For a few months images recorded by the webcam were randomly uploaded to the internet and displayed on the armchair.com website. The overall envelope of potential images were a function of my choice of materials, their shapes, sizes, and degree of internal stress, and the water flow dynamics I designed into the apparatus. There was purposely no intelligence behind the choice of which images the webcam would upload. Conceptually, I was interested in whether the artistic content was in the conception, the realization, or in the images generated and randomly chosen to display.
(water-filled vessel with clear bottom, diffuse light source, polarizers, assorted birefringent materials, pump, nozzle, web-connected camera, software, uploaded images (640x480, 72dpi)
In 1998 I designed an apparatus that would continuously circulate a number of pre-stressed birefringent shapes in a diffusely illuminated water-filled vessel. Polarizers made the instantaneous patterns visible to a webcam positioned above the vessel. For a few months images recorded by the webcam were randomly uploaded to the internet and displayed on the armchair.com website. The overall envelope of potential images were a function of my choice of materials, their shapes, sizes, and degree of internal stress, and the water flow dynamics I designed into the apparatus. There was purposely no intelligence behind the choice of which images the webcam would upload. Conceptually, I was interested in whether the artistic content was in the conception, the realization, or in the images generated and randomly chosen to display.