SHM Lissajous

“Simple Harmonic Motion, (Homage to Lissajous)” 2001/2006
Steel, weights, optics, glass, carbon, motor
1.0 x 1.0 x 1.0 m

Installations
Pulsar
International Biennale, Feszek Klub, Budapest
2009

Magnetic Vision
Kinetica Museum, London UK
2006

S.H.M. Lissajous is a drawing/projecting mechanism that creates images (Lissajous curves) using twin elliptic harmonic movement. The movement of a pendulum and its deflecting pendulum result in a fine point scratching a fine layer of carbon off a sheet of glass. With the aid of an overhead projector this process is instantaneously transferred into a light drawing. The images are the results of traces of the time and movement whilst the pendulum is pulled to equilibrium by the Earth’s gravitational pull. These gravity-induced drawings hint at recognizable images found in nature that have also been formed by this universal force. The soot that is on the glass relates to Carbon being an abundant component of life and also of the Universe. The earth’s gravitational pull is harnessed to produce completely unique forms that often resemble images not dissimilar from ones found in astronomy.

The drawings created with this piece are have been made into light boxes. (link here