Frozen Harmonics (2024) Digital Arts by Elkement (Elke Stangl)

Fine art paper, 8x8 in
  • This work is an "Open Edition" Digital Arts, Giclée Print / Digital Print
  • Dimensions Several sizes available
  • Several supports available (Fine art paper, Metal Print, Canvas Print)
  • Framing Framing available (Floating Frame + Under Glass, Frame + Under Acrylic Glass)
  • Artwork's condition The artwork is in perfect condition
  • Categories Abstract Geometric
You encounter spherical harmonics when calculating the quantum mechanical wave function for the hydrogen atom. These functions are the building blocks of the lobe-shaped orbitals known from chemistry. Just as any periodic function – as spiky as it may be – can be built up from sine and cosine waves of different frequencies, any function on a sphere [...]
You encounter spherical harmonics when calculating the quantum mechanical wave function for the hydrogen atom. These functions are the building blocks of the lobe-shaped orbitals known from chemistry.

Just as any periodic function – as spiky as it may be – can be built up from sine and cosine waves of different frequencies, any function on a sphere can be built from a basis of spherical harmonic functions.

Here, I’ve tried to use just one these basic functions. Each set of longitude and latitude is assigned a value – like the distance from the origin at that combination of angles.

I visualize surfaces via delicate contour lines: I draw lines on all these lobes, keeping either the longitude or the latitude constant. This is a mesh of lines in three-dimensional space, a virtual sculpture.

I am creating JavaScript code based on the framework three.js to bring this to life (No AI). I am scaling the whole sculpture and I am nesting several of them, coloring the contour lines on each of the meshes differently. Then I rotate it and pan my virtual camera to find an interesting viewpoint.

Related themes

Code ArtHarmonicSphericalEtherealScience

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elkement is crafting virtual sculptures with code (no AI!) and with pencils - structures based on mathematical functions. Her art is based on and inspired by physics, engineering, and tech. Inspired by the aesthetics [...]

elkement is crafting virtual sculptures with code (no AI!) and with pencils - structures based on mathematical functions. Her art is based on and inspired by physics, engineering, and tech. Inspired by the aesthetics of vintage patent drawings and by Sir Roger Penrose’s handcrafted sketches, elkement is searching for the nexus of science and art.

elkement enjoys spotting the uncanny in the allegedly simple and mundane. Having created virtual three-dimensional structures with code, she is always searching for an unusual perspective to challenge preconceived notions. She often juxtaposes her visual art with her Found Poetry when she presents her art (at elkement.art).

Recurring motifs in elkement's digital art are diffraction patterns. Since early childhood, elkement had been fascinated by the pure spectral colors of the rainbow and by the physics underlying their creation. Forming structures from diffraction patterns that are both based on exact math and that resemble the patterns you actually see encapsulates the beauty of the phenomena as everybody can experience them, as well as the beauty of the underlying math. 

elkement is a physicist by training who fondly remembers her high school classes in descriptive geometry and fine art.

(In case you read this in a language other than English, it is an automated translation.)

This gallery profile was in March 2022. Profits for artworks created in 2022 go to Ukraine aid - to 'Cards for Ukraine' - a small, transparent organization helping Ukrainian refugees in Austria. 

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