The artist who traps 'fossilised' bolts of electricity inside acrylic blocks
These stunning - literally - sculptures were made by blasting a block of acrylic with a 5million volt particle accelerator.
'Captured Lightning': A Lichtenberg Figure sculpture created when Bert Hickman used a 5million-volt particle accelerator on a block of acrylic
The effect on the material is as if a lightning flash has been frozen in time, a process that sculptor Bert Hickman calls 'Captured Lightning'.
And while a straightforward Lichtenberg figure is impressive enough, Bert and physicist friend Todd Johnson have managed to create eye-popping works in the shape of stars, butterflies, an oak tree and even the Yin Yang symbol.
Here comes the science bit.
The yin-yang symbol created using the process, where the charge builds up inside the acrylic - and then suddenly bursts through weakened pathways in the block
Mr Hickman, 62, from Woodridge, Illinois, explains: 'To create our sculptures, we rent "beam time" on a 5million volt particle accelerator.
'As the accelerator injects huge numbers of electrons inside a clear acrylic plastic specimen, a huge electrical charge (typically 1 - 2.5 million volts) builds inside.'
Mr Hickman explained that he manually creates an escape route for the charge - a weakened path through the acrylic.
The charge's escape creates a miniature lightning storm inside the acrylic, which then leaves fossilised patterns behind
The charge suddenly escapes in a brief, lightning-like discharge - causing a miniature 'lightning storm'.
The intense heat from this 'lightning' creates branching patterns that have been permanently captured within the plastic.
The patterns are a 'fossilised' chain of microscopic fractures and tubes that reflect light like microscopic mirrors.
The phenomenon is named after German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, who recorded the patterns in 1777.
The 'Captured Lightning' sculptures are available online for between £17-£299.
There is proof around the globe of electrical interactions on the surface of the Earth that create Lichtenberg figures. Take a look at most large river basins, they appear to have been formed much in a similar pattern, not the typical erosion over time that is taught in schools, but one with a cataclysmic past where bodies in the solar system interacted on an electrical basis. Many scientists won't even acknowledge electricity in space, yet from the solar "wind" down to the very atoms that make up everything in nature; it all has basis in electrical interaction. There are some incredibly interesting articles at thunderbolts.info if "stuff" like this grabs your attention. The science behind it rather than just a bunch of rather amazing pictures. Short articles of the day that address proof of electrical interaction on a planet wide, even solar system wide basis. As a side note, you can find videos of these figures being made, all created instantly by electricity.
- James, Northampton, UK, 03/12/2009 16:44
Now this is what I call real art; capturing a brief moment in time which shows the beauty of nature concealed within the violence of a deadly bolt of lightning. These stunning examples put the ludicrous attempts at 'art' that you would find in places such as The Tate Gallery, to shame.
- Sheri, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, 03/12/2009 13:47
I have a simple one of these, in a cylinder, made at the Lawrence Livermore Labs in Berkeley and given to me by my Grandmother. I've had it for about thirty years. I am careful with it because the structure is somewhat weakened by the "damage" done inside it with the electrons. It might shatter if it were dropped, I was told. So much for my rare possession! but how lovely to see these.
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