St Supery Winery in Napa Valley presentsVerre et Soleil: Sun, Glass and Stainless Steel Kinetic Sculptures by Benbow Bullock through January 31, 2008. On a clear sunny day, watch slow moving images climb
a garden wall. See the changing soft colors, and geometric
shapes, as they move in silence. Sunlight is interacting with a Kinetic Sun, Glass and Steel Sculpture. The sculpture is timeless.
It is not calibrated to measure time. The sculpture is
meant to provide aesthetic pleasure when sunlight comes
in contact with the thin-film-coated glass images created by the artist, and
held in place within the sculpture. The result of this interaction of light,
the viewer and the thin film optics is a panoply of subtle changing colors. And a feeling there is no need to take heed of time. Benbow Bullock has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since 2000.
Thin film coated glass is made by heating metal oxides, to very high temperatures in a vacuum chamber. Then deposited in layers a
millionth of an inch in thickness. a wavelength of light in the visible spectrum. The layers are deposited on a substrate of clear glass to provide structural strength. This is called “Dichroic Glass”, or filter
The filter materials, are clear, transparent and are colorless. They do not absorb visual light, like colored or stained glass. All light energy is either transmitted or reflected. The filter acts as a selective color mirror to produce color. The color reflected is determined by the optical design of the mirror. Light that is not reflected, is transmitted. All light energy is accounted for. Colors are determined by the thickness and number of layers of metal oxide that make up the filter. Colors transmitted and reflected are pairs of colors
In a rainbow, the visible light spectrum: violet-blue-green-yellow-orange-red. For example if the transmitted color is blue, then its complement yellow, will be the reflected color.
When light contacts the glass at an angle, rather than passing straight through, it travels farther in distance, The angle of the light, and the thickness of the coatings determine the color transmitted, and
the complementary color that is reflected.
During the course of a day, as the angle of the sun changes.
so do the colors transmitted or reflected by a Sun, Glass
and Stainless Steel Kinetic Sculpture”. Movement of the viewer, also
causes the angle of light to change, changing the colors displayed.
This effect can be seen in nature, in the iridescent feathers
of a peacock, sunlight passing through a soap bubble. or the wings
of a dragonfly flitting over a pond.
"My light sculptures are unique in that they are
kinetic sculptures, but have no moving parts to wear out.
They can be mounted in any plane, bolted to a wall to catch
the morning sun, mounted on a fence. or on a sturdy perch that
can be moved around. They can be displayed as single sculptures,
or in clusters. Maintenance is easy: wash with soap and water.
Benbow Bullock states about the works:
"As the sculptor, I have combined the physics of thin film optics, with the experience of making large scale outdoor stainless steel sculptures, to create
kinetic abstract outdoor sculptures that produce changing color images."
For more information on the physics of thin-film-coating and photographs of actual sculptures: www.artnut.com/borrego.html
View Benbow Bullock's Premiere Portfolio at:http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/a/artnut/
IMAGE
Benbow Bullock
Title: Aurora Aurora 2007
Year Created: 2007
Medium: Glass Sculpture
Width: 2 feet
Height: 8 feet
Depth: 3 feet
Price: US$ 17000
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