Where the Arts Meet Physics

I am auditing the class “Where the Arts Meet Physics” taught by physics professor Smitha Vishveshwara.  We are moving toward an exhibit of our projects to be hosted at Krannert Art Museum April 13-20, 2017.

The universe is an extraordinary place. At the cosmic scale, the universe expands, galaxies form and swirl around their centers, stars ignite into being and undergo fiery deaths, massive objects set off gravitational ripples in space-time. At the planetary scale, Newtonian mechanics dictates the path of orbits around the Sun, a beautiful planet called Earth harbors life, fluids flow from smoothness to chaos. At the microscopic scale, the laws of quantum physics defy imagination, atoms together form complex building blocks of matter, and under ultra-cold conditions, quantum states of matter exhibit beguiling emergent behavior.

In the project-based course Phys498-Art, Where the Arts meet Physics, we have explored this extraordinary place under three umbrellas – the Universe, Fluids and Flow, and the Quantum World. I have had the good fortune of working with highly enthusiastic and talented students and affiliates, collaborators from the physics and the arts, and consultants from all over campus. We have adapted different artistic media as vehicles of expression in bringing our explorations alive. We welcome you to share the world that we have strived to create for you.

~SV