Photo: Semiconductorfilms
Photo: Semiconductorfilms
Photo: Semiconductorfilms
Photo: Semiconductorfilms
A stunning new film shot at the NASA laboratory at UC Berkeley reveals the secret lives of magnetic fields as they morph and twist in space - but are we observing a scientific experiment, the universe in flux or a documentary of a fictional world?
They surround us, yet they can't be seen. They shift vast currents through space, yet we rarely feel their presence. Interplanetary magnetic currents are undoubtedly one of the most mysterious aspects of the universe, but a new film by British filmmakers Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhadt unlocks the beauty of these magnificent forces for all to see.
Jarman and Gerhadt took recordings of magnetic currents from all over the universe and used them to create animated visualisations of geophysical phenomenon. The very same forces that whip up giant electrical storms at the fringes of the earth's atmosphere, create beautiful electromagnetic light displays over the North Pole and direct cosmic rays on their spiralling courses through the universe, here are visualised in miniature - a breathtaking display of the meeting point between science and art.
Combining their scientific experience with artistic instinct in sound, animation and programming they have created a ‘magnetic magnum opus' - a ‘tour de force' of immense invisible force brought down to human scale. And it is precisely the meeting of scale that makes the work so fascinating - to think that these tiny pulsating currents surround our planet on a scale inconceivable to man is not only a humbling thought, but an uplifting one. The inherent beauty of nature is again, in Wordswoth's words, too much with us.
The animations are set to audio recordings of the earth's molten core and subtly shifting weather systems - great washes of static caught in the flare of meteorological turbulence, expertly coloured by Jarman and Gerhadt to create an infinite variety of delicate electric geometrics. One is put in mind of Mahler's remarks on his own symphonies: ‘All nature finds in them a voice and tells a deep secret, like the tinglings of a dream.'
These miniature models of universal forces seem to have a purity, a beauty of form and energy that goes beyond a simple scientific project and for a brief moment becomes a vehicle for the transmission of universal vibrations. And so much the better for it.
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17 comments
John collins (not verified) says:
Jul 12th, 2008 at 5pm
Dude that is SOO Cool. Pretty wicked looking the first one is.
JT
www.FireMe.To/udi
Serge (not verified) says:
Jul 12th, 2008 at 8pm
This is amazing! And not only you must have imagination but be artistic as well.
Steven P Sanderson II (not verified) says:
Jul 12th, 2008 at 9pm
That was one of the coolest videos that I have ever seen.
Antechamber (not verified) says:
Jul 13th, 2008 at 12am
Excellent presentations of small magnetic fields and how to see them within our universe. They possibly mimic the larger astrological fields that permeate the solar system.
From a personal standpoint I think they are representative of the different multi-dimensional universes around us but on a much smaller scale. How to access them is the critical question. Perhaps Einstein's theory of relativity was a small step in coming close to the other dimensions. We humans took the wrong fork in the road. Perhaps a Omega variable should have been replaced with a Alpha variable.
Pedrobear (not verified) says:
Jul 13th, 2008 at 1am
So you made a bunch of pretty lines waving around, and assume that's how magnetic fields would look if we could see them in miniature form?
I'm very annoyed that I came here thinking some sort of scientific breakthrough occurred, when in fact it's just a video of some art-school kids interpretation of descriptions by scientists/pictures or whatever.
That's all well and good, however if you're going to spread this around, make sure you aren't being deceitful and people know what they are coming here to see.
Also, the PEW PEW PEWWWWWW noises aren't helping the case. I don't care if they are "recordings from the molten core", it just makes this even more cheesy.
palmer (not verified) says:
Jul 13th, 2008 at 1am
well thats a strange interpretation of that wordsworth quote...
James (not verified) says:
Jul 13th, 2008 at 4am
Okay, I've read this through a few times and seem to still be missing the point.
Am I right in assuming that the creators have taken magnetic field lines measured from distant spacial phenomena and have superimposed those field line animations onto indoor scenes of a NASA Laboratory?
Cool, I guess....
Sarah (not verified) says:
Jul 22nd, 2008 at 1pm
Yet another reminder that we have only begun to scratch the surface of this world we call our home.
I look forward to the discoveries that will yet be made in my lifetime!
terry (not verified) says:
Aug 9th, 2009 at 5pm
This is so interesting- a way to see the unseeable!
terry (not verified) says:
Aug 9th, 2009 at 5pm
so COOOOOL - to see the unseeable- fascinating to a girl geek!!
Jason (not verified) says:
Sep 7th, 2009 at 1am
A few years back there was a big article in my city newspaper about a haunted hotel in my city.On page 2 of the article there were pictures of people in the hotel basement and there were white lines by the people.This was in most of the pictures.I thought maybe it was spirits but it could be magnetic fields.I still have the article.
I saw a program on TV about the Oregon vortex and pictures were shown that were taken there of magnetic fields.
tom (not verified) says:
wow nice pictures