01 / Experience
Light with a life of its own.
The Phantom Ballet stages plasma as a changing luminous material. Within a glass sphere, charged particles form shifting structures that respond to magnetic fields while retaining a degree of unpredictability.
The work sits between deliberate control and the behaviour of the material itself. Rather than reproducing a predetermined image, it presents a physical process whose shape continually changes.
- Year
- 2016
- My contribution
- Concept, hardware, software and sound
- Artistic authorship
- Verena Bachl & Karsten Schuhl
- Context
- artistic research collaboration
The apparatus and its glass sphere within the installation. Photograph: Verena Bachl.
02 / My contribution
An apparatus to explore a material phenomenon.
Developed with Verena Bachl, the project brought together concept, hardware, software and sound. My contribution connected these disciplines in an installation built around the behaviour of plasma.
The visible phenomenon and the apparatus are closely linked. Glass, a supporting frame, kinetics, electronics and control make it possible to encounter the changing material at the scale of an object.
Concept
Collaborative development of the installation.
System
Connect hardware and software to the physical apparatus.
Sound
Contribute to the sonic dimension of the exhibit and project documentation.
03 / Material
Shaping light through charged matter.
Ordinary optical techniques redirect light through reflection, refraction or focusing. Here, the luminous form comes from charged matter that responds to magnetic forces.
That response is not unlimited. The conditions under which plasma can be sustained and shaped are part of the work’s subject. Its movement remains a negotiation between the apparatus and the behaviour of the material.
A torsional luminous form within the glass sphere. Photograph: Verena Bachl.
Another material state recorded during the project. Photograph: Verena Bachl.
Film & documentation
See the work in motion.
Project film — edit: Verena Bachl. Sound: Karsten Schuhl. Watch on Vimeo ↗
04 / Physical form
Giving an ephemeral process a place.
The installation combines steel, stained beech, concrete, stainless steel, polyoxymethylene, glass and electronics. The apparatus is approximately 150 centimetres high, with a footprint of 30 by 30 centimetres.
The physical structure makes a fleeting event available for sustained observation. Its rigid materials provide a counterpoint to the constantly changing light inside the sphere.
The supporting structure and illuminated sphere. Photograph: Verena Bachl.
05 / In motion
A still image catches only one state.
The project film shows changes that the photographs can only isolate. Forms emerge, bend and disappear as the work continues to operate.
The Phantom Ballet was developed in 2016 in collaboration with Verena Bachl, alongside a wider artistic interest in the behaviour of plasma and magnetic fields.