Always remember to look up.

In our Street Gallery you will discover a garden of light: Epiphany’s Genesis 2.

The collection of alien plants open and close to reveal an internal ecosystem in constant change. The installation was created by Skunk Control, a collective of scientists, engineers, educators and technologists from Victoria University. They have been making interactive art installations, using light, sound and kinetic activity, since 2012.

The beautiful colours in the installation are made by using special types of plastic that cause the light to react in an unexpected way. The plastics, together with filters, transform ordinary light into a spectrum of colours. The colours and patterns you see will change, depending on the light that is reflected from or transmitted through the plastic.

What are you waiting for? Look up.

 

Making colour from light

The beautiful, changing colours that you see in the installation are due to the unique way that light interacts with the special materials that have been used in the installation.

Sunlight is made up of lots of different types of light. Some, like ultraviolet or infrared light, are invisible to the human eye. Others, like visible light, we can see. This visible light is made up of the rainbow of colours from blue to red .

This installation uses special types of plastic that can transform ordinary white light into a spectacular array of colours.

These plastics have a special property called birefringence, which allows a single beam of light to be split into two. With the help of a rotating polaroid filter, a magnificent display of ever-changing colours results.

 

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Skunk Control website

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