From the Tide Pool to the Stars
Man is .... related to all reality, known and
unknowable ... plankton, a
shimmering
phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe,
all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look form the tide pool to the stars and
then back the tide
pool
again.
John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
Many
articles have appeared in The New Scientist over the past few years about a 'Goldilocks Universe'; the idea that our universe has just the right conditions
for life to evolve.
One of
the articles discusses this idea in a book called Just Six Numbers: The Deep
Forces that Shape the Universe. The author, Martin Rees, a cosmologist and the astronomer royal,
addresses the cosmic coincidence that six numbers in physics have just
the right value for the emergence of a universe with galaxies, stars, planets,
chemistry and life and poses questions as to why this might be so. I bought this brilliantly informative book and have read it many
times.
The
moment I saw the John Steinbeck quote Rees used to head the first chapter
(above) I knew that this was the direction my work needed to take, I, too,
needed to ‘look from the tide pool to the stars ...’ (see earlier series relating to Tides and Rock Pools)
The
Six Numbers
The first number
discussed is N, it relates to the size of the universe. Its huge
value, 10 with 36 zeroes, gives us the balance between the nuclear forces that
hold atoms together and the vastly feebler but ultimately inexorable power of
gravity. If N were any
smaller our universe would be too small and too short-lived for anything larger
than an insect to evolve.
The next number is ε – epsilon which
has a value of 0.007 and defines how firmly atomic nuclei bind together and how
all the atoms and therefore the chemistry of the earth was made. If it had a value of 0.006 there would
be no other elements only hydrogen, so no periodic table - no life. Had it been a bit higher, at 0.008,
protons would have fused in the big bang so not even any hydrogen!
The next two numbers control the expansion of the
universe. First is W - Omega – about 0.3 – which refers to the ratio of the actual
density of atoms in the universe per cubic metre, about 0.2, to the critical
density, about 5 atoms per cubic metre, which would have provided so much
gravitational pull the universe would have collapsed long before any life could
have evolved. Secondly is λ – lambda
which with a value of only 0.007 is the weakest and most mysterious of
forces. It controls the expansion
of the universe and so seems to dictate its whole future. If it were much stronger the universe
would have expanded too quickly and cosmic evolution would never have got
started in the first place.
The fifth number Rees discusses is Q which
gives rise to all stars, galaxies and galactic clusters and was imprinted in
the Big Bang. One part in 100,000, it is the ratio between the rest mass energy
of matter and the force of gravity. Were this ratio even smaller, gas would
never condense into galaxies but if it were much larger the universe would be
an empty place dominated by black holes.
Finally and so obvious is D – dimensions
which must equal three as two or four would have made our evolution
impossible. The stability of the
solar system relies on the fact that spacetime has, on the macroscale, only
three physical dimensions.
These six values permit something significant to
happen, and fortunately for us, to go on happening.
Series 3. Number Games (Encaustic
works)
Working
through a series of encaustic works helped me to get nearer to an understanding
of these ‘six numbers’ that constitute a ‘recipe’ for our universe, while the
use of the ancient encaustic medium itself seemed appropriate for the purpose.
Encaustic paint made with bees wax melted with dammar
crystals and coloured with pigment is applied molten in layer upon layer with
each layer fused to the one before using heat. The surface can be incised and
pigment worked into the cuts to create linear effects as in the works in this
series. When finished it is polished to a soft luster that actually repels
dirt!
Encaustic is believed to be at least 2,500 years old
and was used by the ancient Egyptians to paint portraits of the dead. It is a
very versatile, durable art form.
Below are some of the Encaustic and Mixed Media works from the show.
Below are some of the Encaustic and Mixed Media works from the show.
 |
| From the Beginning of time 300x300mm, encaustic on linen 2012 SOLD |
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| We Straddle the Cosmos 2012 300 x 300mm, encaustic on linen SOLD |
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| One Very Large Number 2011, 250x200mm, Encaustic on Board. SOLD |
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| One with 36 Noughts 250x200mm, Encaustic on board, SOLD |
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| Alchemy in the Star 2011 250x200mm, Encaustic on board |
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| A Flat Universe 2011 250x200mm, Encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| A Tentative Hypothesis 2012 250x200mm Encaustic with iron oxide on board. SOLD |
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| Expanding Universe 2011 250x200mm, Encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| Luminous Sediment 2012, 250x200mm, encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| The Texture of the Universe 2012, Encaustic and sand on board SOLD |
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| Foam on the Wave Crests 2012, 250x200mm, Encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| Three Dimensions 2011, 250x200mm SOLD |
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| Cosmic Web 2012 250x200mm, Encaustic on board SOLD |
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| Evolutionary Spiral 2012 250x200mm, encaustic, iron oxide on board. SOLD |
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| A Tentative Hypothesis 2011 250x200mm, encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| Time: One Way Arrow 2012 250x200mm, encaustic and iron oxide on board. SOLD |
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| A Interesting Universe 2012 250x200mm, Encaustic, iron oxide, verdigris. SOLD |
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| Star Dust: Neptune's Necklace 2011 200x180mm, Encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| Ouraborus: Nereis amblyodonta 2012 200x1800, Encaustic on board. SOLD |
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| An Interesting Universe 2012 250x250mm. Rust, verdigris, encaustic on canvas SOLD |
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| Complex Chemistry 2012 Rust, verdigris, wax on board |
The
series of oil paintings that followed are a response to various cosmic
concepts, for example that ‘we straddle the cosmos and the micro world’ – that
we are intermediate in size between atoms and the sun and that our planet and
everything in it, including us, are galactic fossils made from the debris from
stars that exploded in the early universe. The ‘Six Numbers’ make their appearance in most of these
works as well.
