Named after the Greek word ‘κῦμα’ (kŷma) meaning wave, Cymatic was incidentally discovered in
1680 by the English polymath Robert Hooke when running his boe along the edge of a metal plate
coated in a dusting of flour. Organising the grains into intricate patterns of peaks and troughs
and revealing how meaning can emerge from the formation of a structure – particularly
those naturally invisible to the human eye.

This simple yet remarkable process marks one of the earliest experiments revealing
the vast extent of veiled mechanics that both shape and inform our lives and our environments.

Reflecting upon Hookes incidental discovery I set about recreating his experiment. Using water
instead of flour to capture the frequency at the lowest threshold of human, 12 hertz. From one exposure
to the next, variations in exposure time altered the configurations from dense and entangled to
those largely filled of negative space. Embodying both form and formlessness,
emptiness and everything at any given moment in time.

Project Details:

Photopolymer prints on fibre based paper

Number of photos in series: 36