Gravity Waves

BACKGROUND 'Gravity Waves' was a finalist in the $100,000 sculpture competition for a public sculpture at Victoria Point, Docklands Melbourne organized by 'Wonderment Walks' and partnered with CAST. The proposition for a large kinetic sculpture explored how the intersection between scientific and artistic inquiry could be contextualized for a site specific location and communicated to a public audience in a clear and intriguing manner. CONTRIBUTION The piece contributes to my ongoing design and installation practice investigating ways of interacting with and visualizing phenomena: which are often invisible, immaterial or intangible. This competition entry sought to commemorate the remarkable discovery of gravity waves in 2016, exactly 100 years after they were first predicted by Albert Einstein and celebrate the many Australian scientists who contributed to this. The central part of the sculpture consists of two large stainless steel discs 3 meters in diameter into which are cut carefully calculated moiré patterns using Emin Gabrielyan's (2007) equations and the optical speedup effect. The base disc is fixed whilst the outer revealing disc slowly orbits around in ever reducing spirals generating a remarkable dynamic simulation of gravity waves that closely match those animated by the scientists from LIGO and NASA. SIGNIFICANCE This sculpture/design competition, under the auspices and patronage of 'Wonderment Walk', was overseen by an organizing and curatorial committee (CAST) who invited submissions from highly regarded practitioners in the field and judged by a select panel of industry, art and science experts. Gravity Waves was one of three finalists in this competition.