FINAL PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
Multi-media conversation between theoretical physics and graphic
design.
L. Koonts
Department of Graphic Design / School of Design /
North Carolina State University / Raleigh, North Carolina / May 2, 1994 / Masters in Graphic Design
CONTENTS
abstract
Multi-media conversation between theoretical physics and graphic design.
report text
WHY? PHYSICS & DESIGN.
paper given Dec. 1993
A multi-media conversation between theoretical physics and graphic design.
script from multi-media presentation Feb. 1994
Following three images from review in School of Design Graduate Publication, 1996
![[ball in motion]](/images/t_s1.gif)
![[airplane]](/images/t_s2.gif)
![[building]](/images/t_s3.gif)
![[newtonian framework]](/images/t_s4.gif)
![[cathedral dome]](/images/t_s5.gif)
![[watch]](/images/t_s6.gif)
a quantum can Depending on the way it is observed, a quantum can be seen as a
be seen as a
particle or as particle or as energy.
energy
(Zukav. 103)[..the wave and particle characteristics of light are
unified by quantum mechanics, but at a price. There is no
description of reality.
The fundamental theoretical theory in quantum physics is the wave
function. The wave function is a dynamic (it changes as time
progresses) description of possible occurrences. But what does the
wave function describe, really? According to western thought, the
world has only two essential aspects, one of which is matter-like
and the other which is idea-like.
The matter-like aspect is associated with the external world, most
of which is conceived to be made up of inanimate stuff that is
hard and unresponsive, like rocks, pavement, metal, etc. The idea-
like aspect is our subjective experience. Reconciling these two
particle
has been a central theme of religion throughout history. The
philosophies which champion these aspects are Materialism ( the
energy world is matter-like, regardless of our impressions) and Idealism
(reality is idea-like, regardless of appearances). The question
is, which one of these aspects does the wave function represent?
particle The answer, according to the orthodox view of quantum mechanics,
energy
is that the wave function represents something that partakes of
both idea-like and matter-like characteristics.]
Derrida Derrida criticizes the Western use of this same either/or thinking
criticizes
Western metaphysics
(Derrida. Dissemination. viii) Derrida follows Nietzsche and
Heidegger in elaborating a critique of "Western metaphysics," by
which he means not only the Western philosophical tradition but
"everyday" thought and language as well. Western thought, says
yes vs. no
Derrida, has always been structured in terms of dichotomies or
polarities: good vs. evil, being vs. nothingness, presence vs.
absence, truth vs. error, identity vs. difference, mind vs.
matter, man vs. woman, soul vs. body, life vs. death, nature vs.
culture, speech vs. writing. These polar opposites do not,
however, stand as independent and equal entities. The second term
in each pair is considered the negative, corrupt, undesirable
version of the first, a fall away from it. Hence, absence is the
lack of presence, evil is the fall from good, error is the
distortion of truth, etc. In other words, the two terms are simply
opposed in their meanings, but are arranged in a hierarchical
order which gives the first term priority, in both the temporal
and the qualitative sense of the word. In general, what these
hierarchical oppositions do is to privilege unity, identity,
immediacy, and temporal and spatial presentness over the distance,
Being as pres-
ence difference, dissimulation, and deferment. In its search for the
answer to the question of Being, Western philosophy has indeed
always determined Being as presence.
Barthes says, in criticism of 'Neither-Nor'
Barthes criti-
cizes Neither- (Barthes. Mythologies. 81) We are dealing here with a mechanism
Nor
based on a double exclusion largely pertaining to this enumerative
mania...the word, ballasted by a prior culpability, quite
naturally comes to weigh down one of the scales. For instance,
culture will be opposed to ideologies. Culture is a noble,
universe thing, placed outside of social choices: culture has no
weight. Ideologies, on the other hand, are partisan inventions:
so, onto the scales and out with them! Both sides are dismissed
under the stern gaze of culture (without realizing that culture
itself is, in the last analysis, an ideology). Everything happens
as if there were on one side heavy, defective words (ideology,
heavy, defec- catechism, militant), meant to serve for the ignominious game of
tive words
vs. the scales; and on the other, light, pure, immaterial words, noble
light, pure,
immaterial words, noble by divine right, sublime to the point of evading the
words
sordid law of numbers (adventure, passion, grandeur, virtue,
honor), words placed above the sorry computation of lies.
representation How we think is our reality:
of reality
= not = (Capra.28) For most of us it is very difficult to be constantly
reality
aware of the limitations and of the reality of conceptual
knowledge. Because our representation of reality is so much easier
to grasp than reality itself, we tend to confuse the two and to
take our concepts and symbols for reality.
Eastern meta On the other hand:
physics
(Capra. 44) Whenever the Eastern mystics express their knowledge
in words--be it with the help of myths, symbols, poetic images or
paradoxical statements--they are well aware of the limitations
imposed by language and 'linear' thinking. Most physics has come
to exactly the same attitude with regard to its verbal models and
theories. They, too, are only approximate and necessarily
inaccurate. They are counterparts to the Eastern myths, symbols
and poetic images, and it is at this level that [Capra draws] the
parallels.
Mathematics is a language of physics. And
Einstein says (Capra. 41) Einstein says: As far as the laws of mathematics refer
to reality, they are not certain; and, as far as they are certain,
they do not refer to reality.'
before we What we think of as reality is really conclusions made from
studied atoms,
there was no observation that work within a certain framework. Before study of
Theory of
Relativity the world of atoms, there was no theory of relativity.
(Capra. 199)Physics in the twentieth century has been
MACROSCOP- characterized by an ever progressing penetration into this world
IC atomic /
MICROSCOPIC of submicroscopic dimensions,down into the realm of atoms, nuclei
subatomic
what is and their constituents. This exploration of the subatomic world
matter
made of? has been motivated by one basic question which has occupied and
stimulated human thought throughout the ages: what is matter made
of? {(Zukav. 45) The idea that the atom is the indivisible
building block of nature was proposed about four hundred years
before Christ, but until the late 1800's it remained just an
idea.) }
...With the help of a highly sophisticated technology, physicists
atoms
were able to explore first the structure of atoms, finding that
nuclei
they consisted of nuclei and electrons, and then the structure of
electrons
the atomic nuclei which were found to consist of protons and
protons
neutrons, commonly called nucleons. ..and then the structure of
neutrons/
nucleons the nucleons--the constituents of the atomic nuclei--which, again,
do not seem to be the ultimate elementary particles, not seem to
be composed of other entities.
..in the world of atomic nuclei,...we deal with dimensions that
are a hundred times smaller than the atomic divisions, and
consequently the particles such small dimensions move considerably
faster than those confined to atomic structures. They move, in
fact, so fast that they can only be described adequately in the
framework of the special theory of relativity.
the Theory of ...The characteristic feature of the relativistic framework is, as
Relativity
mentioned previously, that it unifies basic concepts which seemed
totally unrelated before.
For example: the equivalence of mass and energy which is expressed
E=mc2
mathematically by Einstein's famous equation E=mc2
..To understand the profound significance of this equivalence we
first have to understand the meaning of energy, and the meaning of
mass.
E is for Energy is one of the most important concepts used in the
ENERGY
description of natural phenomena. As in everyday life, we say that
motion
heat a body has energy when it has the capacity for doing work. This
gravitational
electrical energy can take a great variety of forms. ...Whatever the form is
chemical
and so on.. it can be used to do work. ...In physics, energy is always
associated with some process, or some kind of activity, and its
fundamental importance lies in the fact that the total energy
conservation
of energy involved in a process is always conserved. ..The conservation of
energy is one of the most fundamental laws of physics.
m is for MASS ...The mass of a body, on the other hand, is a measure of its
weight, i.e. of the pull of gravity on the body. ...mass [also]
mass was measures the inertia of an object, i.e. its resistance against
believed to
be conserved being accelerated. ...In classical physics, mass was ..associated
like energy
but no with an indestructible material substance, i.e. with the 'stuff'
of which all things were thought to be made. Like energy, it was
believed to be rigorously conserved, so that no mass could ever
get lost.
mass is a form Now relativity tells us that mass is nothing but a form of energy.
of energy
Energy can not only take the various forms known in classical
physics, but can also be locked up in the mass of an object. The
amount of energy contained , for example, in a particle is equal
to the particle's mass, m, times c2, the square of the speed of
E=mc2 light; thus E=mc2. Once it is seen to be a form of energy, mass is
no longer required to be indestructible, but can be transformed
into other forms of energy.]
(Capra. 202)...mass is no longer associated with a material
particles are substance, and hence particles are not seen as consisting of any
seen as
bundles of basic 'stuff', but as bundles of energy. ...To understand this
energy
better, we must remember that these particles can only be
conceived in relativistic terms, that is, in terms of a framework
where space and time are fused into a four-dimensional continuum.
The particles must not be pictured as static three-dimensional
objects, like billiard balls or grains of sand, but rather as
four-dimensional entities in space-time. Their forms have to be
understood dynamically, as forms in space and time.Subatomic
particles are dynamic patterns which have a space aspect and a
time aspect. Their space aspect makes them appear as objects with
a certain mass, their time aspect as processes involving the
equivalent energy.
These dynamic patterns, or 'energy bundles', form the stable
nuclear, atomic, and molecular structures which build up matter
and give it its macroscopic solid aspect, thus making us believe
that it is made of some material substance.
space-time in The ideas of space-time can be applied to the way we view graphic
relation to
graphic design. The design is often a 2-dimensional piece. The x,y plane.
design
The z plane the distance from the viewer (book, poster). The
designer seeks to influence in the space-time aspect by means of
visual hierarchy.
quantum Earlier, I threw out the unexplained statement:
Depending on the way it is observed, a quantum can be seen as a
radiation particle or as energy.
vs.
particle A quantum is a discrete entity, (Zukav. 45) a quantity of
line something, a a specific amount, the equivalent of the mass/energy
vs.
dot needed for a jump of a photon from one level to another. It can be
line and dot seen as radiation or as a particle depending on the way the
radiation and experimenter observes it.
particle
Radiation/particle, line/dot ??? think of a pencil, turn it so it
looks like a dot, so it looks like a line. The dot(particle) is
essentially the end of the line while the line(radiation) is the
side view of the line.
BLACK HOLE Now questions like what happens to the energy escaping from a
black hole push at our ideas of reality
(Hawkins. 100) All present physics is based very heavily on the
assumption that you can recover the past from the present--in
principal, if not always in practice. ...black holes seem...to
break this rule.
Physicists like to be able to follow particles back in time. With
a particle accelerator, for example, they smash subatomic
particles together, the retrospectively piece together the details
of the collision from the resulting spray of newly produced
particles.
no connection ...it would be a very basic blow,...to the whole philosophy of
between the
future and the science if there weren't a unique connection between the future
past ?
and the past.
lost in space ...Physicists fall into three camps over the eventual demise of
black holes. LOST IN SPACE the radiation escaping from the hole
says nothing about its past history
gone, not for GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN things falling into the black hole interact
gotten
with the radiation. The information escapes encoded in the
radiation in a way we can't yet decipher
buried, not BURIED, NOT GONE when a black hole explodes it leaves behind a
gone
horn-shaped remnant containing information about everything that
ever fell in. None of it, though, can ever escape
energy as Physicists often talk about the energy as information. If we think
information
about the energy escaping from the black hole as information, we
lost in space can, on a surface level, talk about information escaping from a
gone, not for piece of work. Design is about discovering the past from the
gotten
present, the intention from the finished piece. The three theories
buried, not of the demise of the black hole provide a way of thinking about
gone
what happens to information in design. Design in many ways tries
to establish some present presence of some space and time.
information RESEARCH AND RECORDING RESEARCH (everything relates to the thesis)
in terms of
thesis The acts of researching this thesis, and recording the research
research
reflect issues within the thesis. If there is no objective
recording
information observer then I must realize that I am a subjective observer. I
cannot study from a viewpoint outside of human experience, or my
no objective
observer personal experience.
The need for research documentation led to questions about how to
information record the event of research. Trying to catalogue not only the
+
structure of information itself, but the structure and changes in relation of
information
+ information. Since the event is occurring in me, I began to feel
changes in
the structure that, if I am to be consistent with the idea of the non-existence
of the objective observer, there is no way to avoid a certain
self-centeredness, even though this feels uncomfortably self-
indulgent.
And then I read Derrida and he says:
Derrida says:
(Derrida. Acts of Literature. 34)
"Autobiography" is perhaps the least inadequate name, because it
remains for me the most enigmatic, the most open, even today.
Still today there remains in me an obsessive desire to save in
uninterrupted inscription, in the form of a memory, what happens--
or fails to happen. What I should be tempted to denounce as a
lure--i.e., totalization or gathering up--isn't this what keeps me
going? The idea of an internal polylogue, ...of keeping a trace of
all the voices which were traversing me--or were almost doing so--
and which was to be so precious, unique, both specular and
speculative.
...I don't dream of either a literary work, or a philosophical
work, but that everything that occurs, happens to me or fails to,
should be as it were sealed (placed in reserve, hidden so as to be
kept, and this in its very signature, really like a signature, in
the very form of the seal, with all the paradoxes that traverse
the structure of a seal). The discursive forms we have available
to us, the resources in terms of objectivizing archivation, are so
much poorer that what happens (or fails to happen, whence the
excess of hyper-totalization). This desire for everything + n--
naturally I can analyze it, "deconstruct" it criticize it, but it
is an experience that I love, that I know and recognize. ...As
soon as things become a little sedimented, the fact of not giving
anything up, not even the things one deprived oneself of, through
an interminable "internal" polylogue (supposing that a polylogue
can still be "internal") is also not giving up the "culture" which
carries these voices. At which point the encyclopedic temptation
becomes inseparable from the autobiographical. And philosophical
discourse is often only an economic or strategic formalization of
this avidity.
In his lecture at Duke, Derrida, in an apparent effort to record
things un-recordable, talks of the idea of specter, apparition,
ghost:
(Derrida's lecture at Duke) If it exists, it corresponds to name.
If it is essence, this thing defies semantics, psychology,
philosophy. It is invisible, cannot be seen when one speaks of it,
but it has been seen. ...It is so strange, this thing that one has
to approach it with metaphysical and theoretical eyes.
physics, again ok, BACK TO PHYSICS:
Examples of more things ways the philosophy of physics parallels
design:
parallelactic parallelactic shift -- repetition of same, same, same then same
shift
but 2 degrees off. the change draws attention to the thing
chaos theory chaos theory -- chaos and random are not the same. for example:
your coffee is a seething of brownian not random motion; and the
things that make up the coffee cup are chaotic but still hold
together and contain the coffee. Is this not amazing.
frame
boundary concepts reflected in terms -- frame, boundary, information
information
INFORMATION The ideas of energy and information in physics are interesting and
relate well to design:
(draw If a thing is low on information it will seek information. It
diagrams)
takes energy to get information, loosing information will increase
energy. A thing not only seeks information but tries to retain it.
The information knows about each other and how to hold each other.
Information is organization. It takes energy to RETAIN and to
SEEK information. There is a conflict if the energy to bring in
new information is greater than energy available. Then some energy
needs to come from the energy retaining the structure. There is a
resistance to loosing the structure; to new information.
This idea of a system can be applied to many areas:
DNA. The structure of DNA is not only about what is in the strand
but the TOPOLOGY of the folded strand. The overlapping,
intertwining strands of DNA form a hole for other structures to
fall into.
In design, a hole for people to fall into, to hold them while
giving them information. Not a thing the viewer accesses from
outside.
Or: If a viewer has to expend energy to get information, how get
him to expend the energy?
If, there is not a lot of free energy, how get the viewer to loose
information so can gain the information you want him to gain.
Also: If information in a piece is in a similar
structure/organization to the information in the viewer, will he
be more likely to pick it up, will it be easier to assimilate.
Discussion could continue, there is much research not included,
but it's time for the:
last words WORDS AT THE END
When we talk in physics about -- hydrogen atoms, for example,
(show the (Zukav. 38) "Hydrogen atoms" is a speculation about what is inside
watch again)
of the watch. We can say only that the existence of such entities
nicely explains certain observations that would be very difficult
to explain otherwise, barring explanations such as "the devil did
THE DEVIL it", which may still prove to be correct. (It is this kind of
DID IT
explanation that drove Galileo, Newton, and Descartes to create
(show the
devil) what is now modern science).
![[devil]](/images/t_s7.gif)
surrounded by physics
physics is a fairly good definition of "reality"
still, it is all a construct
just rules that we agree upon in order to:
SLIDE [BALL IN MOTION] chart the path of a ball
SLIDE [AIRPLANE] fly airplanes
SLIDE [HOUSE] build houses
SLIDE [TEXT: THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY]
as Mr. Knowledge will soon explain, even time is a construct.
we think of time as a constant. but time varies, as our speed varies
compared to the speed of light.
I'll let Mr. Knowledge explain.
SLIDE PROJECTOR-OFF, VIDEOhouse right[MR. KNOWLEDGE SPEAKS]--ON
script Mr. K :
start at any pt. on circle
we can also draw this circle and
time and distance of observer, observing event.
or a piece of work and dots are viewers.
they take in information from the work AND INFORMATION
INFORMATION
we are constantly taking information and making some sense out of it.
that is what we do.
given any random set of information, we will organize that information
into some order
in graphic design, we try to find the right balance between TOO MUCH and
TOO LITTLE information.
we control the amount/ type,color, size... if information in an effort
to communicate a certain message to the observer
talk about circle again.
we want to control the info and way of presenting it, so that
all people at diff. pts. on circle --->know the essential information
EX. SPEAKER 5PM MONDAY JULY 20TH, 1994 JOHN SMITH, SUBJECT OF LECTURE
----> and, some tone of information
so. even though, everyone's time is different we act, as though time is
constant.
even though, everyone sees things differently
there is enough commonality so we, can design to communicate information
also use the circle
say that if each pt. is looking at a different part of the design
it doesn't matter where the observer starts but, that when he see's ALL
of the parts,
HE HAS THE INFORMATION FROM THE PIECE.
so what does this mean?
say a poet writes a poem
but in talking about particle/wave
we have a better understanding of
WHAT IS LIGHT
pick any 2 things and have discussion light dark
type image
idea form
and then take discussion itself and make complimentary opposite of
something else
this discussion is about
c.o. of THEORETICAL <------> APPLIED
ideating on paper
brainstorming design
important to go back and forth
APPLIED
just as physicists study the world and come up with a best guess, make
experiments, and generate equations that allow us to :
chart the path of a ball, fly airplanes, build houses, talk about the
construct of time
SO DO WE -- graphic designers do experiments and find out what works and
what doesn't -- size, typefaces that are more readable.
so.
THEORETICAL <-----> APPLIED
we tend to think about things as c.o.'s
a conversation about BLACK WHITE
and gray in between
how much of one, ...
the APPLIED to see it the THEORIES WORK and TO PRODUCE WORK
the THEORETICAL to look at the applied and to become aware of the
construct
so that, we are not making decisions in our work based on
assumptions of truths, that do not hold
TYPE computer
type on any surface - typewriter
write - on anything
THE MORE WE BECOME AWARE
OF OUR CONSTRUCT,
THE MORE ---
WE ARE ABLE TO QUESTION IT
AND COME UP WITH
NEW ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS
idea of conversation between PHYSICS & DESIGN
will generate new understanding of design
in a way that A CONVERSATION OF DESIGN IN DESIGN TERMS will not
in talking about design using
2 arbitrary "complimentary opposites" such as theoretical physics and
graphic design we become more aware of the constructs inherent in our
discussion of design.
SHOW COFFEE CUP (mention coffee cup again)
NOW. we will leave this multi-media conversation of theoretical physics
and graphic design and return to the ROTUNDA in completion of our
evening's entertainment
LIGHTS--OFF, PROJECTORS--ON, POWERS OF TEN--ON
LEAVE ROOM 202 (the site of our multi-media conversation)
ROTUNDA