Project Description

Imaginary Skyrmions

2023

The spatial-light installation consists of a series of kinetic objects made on the basis of scientific visualisations of magnetic skyrmions – thermal quasi-particles in the form of vortices in the structure of magnetic materials that can transmit information and have – among others – the specific technical potential for the development of advanced lighting and ecologically responsible technology.

These objects vary in form because they do not attempt to objectively explain and imitate scientific visualisations, but interpret different types of modelling (structures, diagrams, schemes, three-dimensional illustrations of the movement of particles or magnetic fields). The formal result of this artistic interpretation is phantasmagorical rather than veristic, and this aspect is emphasised by the additional effects of kinetic rotation, light and video projections, which together create an imaginary spatial landscape in motion.
The video projection Topology of Imaginary Skyrmions combines abstracted recordings of light objects in motion and their 3D simulations, thus establishing a hybrid topology of virtuality in the interplay of digitally simulated and analog visual effects. The exhibition includes luminous images of skyrmion vector fields that raise questions about the cultural significance of technological images and their potential to unfold the invisible.

The kinetic spatial installation creates a perceptual (optical and physical) experiment and expands the viewer’s cognitive experience by challenging established habits of perception. The project strives to interweave aesthetic experiences with broader questions about the material structure of our universe at the subatomic level. It questions, on the one hand, the subjective possibilities of understanding and experiencing the nature of physical reality and, on the other, the importance of a technological-scientific perspective and ecological responsibility.
Uršula Berlot

The project is being developed in collaboration with Prof. Sašo Šturm in the Department for Nanostructured Materials at the Jožef Stefan Institute.