Lichtenberg Figures

11.23.09

Man Ray Meets Mr. Wizard in Sugimoto's "Lightning Fields" Photos

By John Mahoney Posted 09.14.2009 at 5:19 pm 3 Comments

Hiroshi Sugimoto is one of the most interesting photographers working today--his meditative sea- and landscapes, done with long exposures on large-format black and white film, present nature in a austerity that borders on abstraction. Now he's taken his look at the natural world one step further by enlisting the help of a 40,000 volt Van de Graaff generator to apply voltage directly to the film, capturing electricity's wild patterns in the process.

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READ MORE ABOUT > art, electricity, Lichtenberg Figures, photography, Photos, van der graaf generators

Trap Lightning in a Block

To create beautiful electrical-charge patterns like this, you could use a giant particle accelerator. But shag carpeting will also do just fine. Watch how Lichtenberg figures are made in our amazing video

By Theodore Gray Posted 02.15.2008 at 1:06 pm 16 Comments

There are many unusual things to see around Newton Falls, Ohio—the Wal-Mart with hitching posts for Amish buggies, the Army base with helicopters and tanks proudly arranged on hills—but I was here for the most unusual thing of all: the local Dynamitron. I was here to make frozen lightning.

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READ MORE ABOUT > electricity, experiments, gray matter, Lichtenberg Figures, March 2008, projects, Theodore Gray, Video