I'm a creative technologist and the focus of my work is on public installations. One of my driving passions is this idea of exploring nature, and trying to find hidden data within nature. It seems to me that there is this latent potential everywhere, all around us. Everything gives out some kind of data, whether it's sound or smell or vibration. Through my work, I've been trying to find ways to harness and unveil this. And so this basically led me to a subject called cymatics. Now, cymatics is the process of visualizing sound by basically vibrating a medium such as sand or water, as you can see there.
Sem kreativni tehnolog, posvečam pa se javnim postavitvam. Ena mojih glavnih strasti je zamisel o raziskovanju narave in iskanju skritih podatkov v njej. Zdi se mi, da so skrite možnosti povsod okrog nas. Vse nam ponuja neke vrste podatke, naj bo zvok, vonj ali vibracija. Skozi moje delo sem poskušal najti načine za njihovo zaznavanje in razkrivanje. To me je vodilo k področju, imenovanem kimatika. Kimatika je postopek upodabljanja zvoka preko vibracije medija, kot sta pesek ali voda, kot lahko vidite tu.
So, if we have a quick look at the history of cymatics beginning with the observations of resonance, by Da Vinci, Galileo, the English scientist Robert Hook and then Ernest Chladni. He created an experiment using a metal plate, covering it with sand and then bowing it to create the Chladni patterns that you see here on the right.
Sprehodimo se na hitro skozi zgodovino kimatike, začenši z opazovanji resonance, ki so jih izvedli Da Vinci, Galileo, Anglež Robert Hook in kasneje Ernest Chladni. Njegov poizkus je temeljil na kovinski plošči, posuti s peskom, ob katero je potegnil z lokom, pri čemer so se ustvarili taki Chladnijevi vzorci.
Moving on from this, the next person to explore this field was a gentleman called Hans Jenny in the 1970s. He actually coined the term cymatics. Then bringing us into the present day is a fellow collaborator of mine and cymatics expert, John Stewart Reed. He's kindly recreated for us the Chladni experiment. What we can see here is the metal sheet, this time connected to a sound driver and being fed by a frequency generator. As the frequencies increase, so do the complexities of the patterns that appear on the plate. As you can see with your own eyes. (Applause)
Naslednji se je v sedemdesetih letih s tem ukvarjal gospod po imenu Hans Jenny. On je pravzapral skoval izraz kimatika. V sedanjosti je pomemben tudi moj sodelavec, strokovanjak za kimatiko, John Stewart Reed. Za nas je poustvaril Chladnijev poizkus. Tu lahko vidimo kovinsko ploščo, tokrat povezano z zvočnim virom in frekvenčnim generatorjem. Z naraščanjem frekvence se veča tudi zapletenost vzorcev na plošči. Kot lahko vidite sami. (Aplavz)
So, what excites me about cymatics? Well, for me cymatics is an almost magical tool. It's like a looking glass into a hidden world. Through the numerous ways that we can apply cymatics, we can actually start to unveil the substance of things not seen. Devices like the cymascope, which you can see here, have been used to scientifically observe cymatic patterns. And the list of scientific applications is growing every day.
Kaj me torej navdušuje pri tem? Zame je kimatika nekakšno magično orodje. Je kot okno v skriti svet. Preko številnih načinov uporabe kimatike lahko dejansko začnemo razkrivati bistvo nevidnih stvari. Z napravami, kot je tale kimaskop, lahko znanstveno opazujemo kimatične vzorce. Seznam možnosti znanstvene uporabe pa se dnevno daljša.
For example, in oceanography, a lexicon of dolphin language is actually being created by basically visualizing the sonar beams that the dolphins emit. And hopefully in the future we'll be able to gain some deeper understanding of how they communicate. We can also use cymatics for healing and education. This is an installation developed with school children, where their hands are tracked. It allows them to control and position cymatic patterns and the reflections that are caused by them. We can also use cymatics as a beautiful natural art form.
V oceanografiji, na primer, so ustvarili slovar delfinskega jezika z upodobitvami zvočnih valov, ki jih delfini oddajajo. V prihodnosti bomo morda lahko bolje razumeli, kako se sporazumevajo. Kimatika je uporabna tudi v zdravstvu in izobraževanju. To je postavitev, ki smo jo razvili z otroki, pri čemer sledimo njihovim dlanem. S tem nadzirajo in nameščajo kimatične vzorce ter odseve nanje. Kimatika je lahko tudi čudovita naravna oblika umetnosti.
This image here is created from a snippet of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony playing through a cymatic device. So it kind of flips things on its head a little bit. This is Pink Floyd's "Machine" playing in real time through the cymascope. We can also use cymatics as a looking glass into nature. And we can actually recreate the archetypal forms of nature. So, for example, here on the left we can see a snowflake as it would appear in nature. Then on the right we can see a cymatically created snowflake. And here is a starfish and a cymatic starfish. And there is thousands of these.
Ta podoba predstavlja delček Beethovnove Devete simfonije, predvajane na kimatični napravi. Stvari nekako postavi na glavo. To je skladba "Machine" skupine Pink Floyd, odigrana skozi kimaskop. Skozi kimatiko se nam odpre tudi okno v naravo. Tako lahko poustvarimo naravne arhetipske oblike. Tu na levi lahko vidimo snežinko, kot se pojavi v naravi. Na desni pa kimatično ustvarjeno snežinko. Tu vidimo morsko zvezdo in njeno kimatično sestro. Obstaja na tisoče takih primerov.
So what does this all mean? Well, there is still a lot to explore in its early days. And there's not many people working in this field. But consider for a moment that sound does have form. We've seen that it can affect matter and cause form within matter. Then sort of take a leap and think about the universe forming. And think about the immense sound of the universe forming. And if we kind of ponder on that, then perhaps cymatics had an influence on the formation of the universe itself.
Kaj je torej bistvo? Še vedno je treba ogromno raziskati, poleg tega pa se s tem ne ukvarja veliko ljudi. A pomislite, da zvok kljub vsemu ima obliko. Videli smo, da vpliva na snov in njeno obliko. Mislite širše in pomislite na oblikovanje vesolja in na njegov neizmerljiv zvok. Če dobro razmislimo o tem, bi lahko kimatika vpliva na oblikovanje vesolja.
And here is some eye candy for you, from a range of DIY scientists and artists from all over the globe. Cymatics is accessible to everybody. I want to urge everybody here to apply your passion, your knowledge and your skills to areas like cymatics. I think collectively we can build a global community. We can inspire each other. And we can evolve this exploration of the substance of things not seen. Thank you. (Applause)
Tu je še nekaj lepih posnetkov, ki so jih ustvarili domači raziskovalci in umetniki s celega sveta. Kimatika je dosegljiva vsem. Rad bi vas spodbudil, da vaše strasti, znanje in sposobnosti uporabite v področjih, kot je kimatika. Verjamem, da lahko skupaj ustvarimo globalno skupnost. En drugega lahko navdihujemo in tako razvijamo odkrivanje bistva nevidnih stvari. Hvala lepa. (Aplavz)