Evan Grant: Making sound visible through cymatics

譯者: 宗諺 劉 審譯者: Dennis Lin

I'm a creative technologist

我是個極富創意的技術人員

and the focus of my work is on public installations.

而我工作的重點是在公共建設上

One of my driving passions

探索自然

is this idea of exploring nature,

並且發現隱藏在自然界中的資訊

and trying to find hidden data within nature.

是我的工作的動力來源

It seems to me that there is

對我來說

this latent potential everywhere, all around us.

這些隱藏的資訊充滿了我們身邊週遭的每一吋

Everything gives out some kind of data,

萬物皆傳達了某種資訊給我們

whether it's sound or smell or vibration.

不管是以聲音 味道 甚或以震動的方式

Through my work, I've been

而我已經不斷地嘗試

trying to find ways to harness and unveil this.

在我的作品中利用它以及將它公諸於世

And so this basically led me to

最後 我發現了

a subject called cymatics.

˙一種叫cymatics的東西

Now, cymatics is the process of visualizing sound

cymatics 是一種使聲音看的見的技術

by basically vibrating a medium such as sand or water,

基本上就是藉由震動一些沙子或水

as you can see there.

就如同你現在所見到的

So, if we have a quick look at the history of cymatics

如果我們大概了解一下cymatics的歷史

beginning with the observations of resonance,

共振的觀察

by Da Vinci, Galileo, the English scientist Robert Hook

始於達文西 伽利略以及英國科學家羅伯特·虎克

and then Ernest Chladni.

之後是恩斯特·克拉德尼

He created an experiment using a metal plate,

他並且開創了一種使用金屬板的實驗

covering it with sand and then bowing it

先以沙子覆蓋板子 然後彎曲它

to create the Chladni patterns that you see here on the right.

接著你會看到如右測顯示的克拉德尼圖形

Moving on from this, the next person to explore this field

受此啟發 在他之後 下一個在這個領域研究的人

was a gentleman called Hans Jenny in the 1970s.

是在一九七零年代一名叫做 漢斯·貞尼的紳士

He actually coined the term cymatics.

並且 他發明了cymatics 這個名詞

Then bringing us into the present day

而帶領我們進入了今日cymatics領域的人

is a fellow collaborator of mine

是一個我的合夥研究人

and cymatics expert, John Stewart Reed.

cymatics方面的專家 約翰·史堤華得·理德

He's kindly recreated for us

他很好心的為我們再現了

the Chladni experiment.

克拉德尼實驗

What we can see here is

我們在這裡可以看到

the metal sheet, this time connected to a sound driver

一個與發聲器相連的金屬薄板

and being fed by a frequency generator.

隨著發聲器產生振動

As the frequencies increase,

隨著頻率的增高

so do the complexities of the patterns that appear on the plate.

就如同你雙眼所見

As you can see with your own eyes.

薄板上的圖案也變的更加複雜

(Applause)

(鼓掌聲)

So, what excites me about cymatics?

那麼 究竟是什麼使我這麼熱中於cymatics呢?

Well, for me cymatics is an almost magical tool.

對我來說 cymatics根本就是一種通滿魔法的工具

It's like a looking glass into a hidden world.

就像是由水晶球窺探未知的世界般

Through the numerous ways that we can apply cymatics,

雖然可以藉由各式各樣的方法來應用cymatics這項技術

we can actually start to unveil the substance of things not seen.

但我們可以從揭開我們未見過的物質開始下手

Devices like the cymascope, which you can see here,

就如你現在所看到 這樣像cymascope的儀器

have been used to scientifically observe cymatic patterns.

已經被用來觀察cymatic所產生的圖形

And the list of scientific applications is growing every day.

而這項科學技術的應用 也與日俱增

For example, in oceanography,

例如在海洋學中

a lexicon of dolphin language is actually being created

我們僅透過觀察海豚發出聲納的圖形

by basically visualizing the sonar beams that the dolphins emit.

便發現到海豚使用的語言字彙正不斷增加當中

And hopefully in the future we'll be able to gain some deeper understanding

期望在未來我們能對他們溝通的方式

of how they communicate.

有更多更深的了解

We can also use cymatics for healing and education.

我們亦能將cymatics技術應用再醫療以及教育上

This is an installation developed with school children,

這是一項學生使用的儀器

where their hands are tracked. It allows them

它能追蹤學生的手掌

to control and position cymatic patterns

並且能讓學生們能夠控制cymatics圖案

and the reflections that are caused by them.

以及他們創造出來的反應

We can also use cymatics as a beautiful natural art form.

我們也能夠將cymatics看成一種自然的藝術形態

This image here is created from a snippet

以下的這個畫面是藉由演奏

of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony playing through a cymatic device.

貝多芬第九交響曲片段所產生的

So it kind of flips things on its head a little bit.

它有點像是在大腦內翻轉一樣

This is Pink Floyd's "Machine"

而接下來的這個是藉由cymascope

playing in real time through the cymascope.

來播放Pink Floyd的 "Machine"

We can also use cymatics as a looking glass into nature.

我們也能將cymatics當作是一項窺探大自然的方法

And we can actually recreate the archetypal forms of nature.

事實上我們也能重建自然的一些圖案

So, for example, here on the left we can see a snowflake as it would appear in nature.

例如 左邊是在自然環境中可以看到的雪花

Then on the right we can see a cymatically created snowflake.

接著 右邊是藉由cymatics所創到的雪花形圖案

And here is a starfish and a cymatic starfish.

這是個海星以及由cymatic創造的海星

And there is thousands of these.

還有更多類似這樣的東西

So what does this all mean?

所以這究竟意味著甚麼呢?

Well, there is still a lot to explore

其實 還有很多值得我們去探索的空間

in its early days. And there's not many people working in this field.

這項技術才剛開始發展 並沒有很多人在從事這方面的研究

But consider for a moment that sound does have form.

但想想 聲音確實有它所具有的圖像

We've seen that it can affect matter and cause form within matter.

我們已經看到了她改變以形成成了很多事物

Then sort of take a leap and think about the universe forming.

我們放遠一點去看

And think about the immense sound of the universe forming.

想想看 宇宙形成初期的聲音次怎樣

And if we kind of ponder on that, then perhaps

如果我們仔細的去想想

cymatics had an influence on the formation of the universe itself.

或許cymatics也對宇宙的形成造成了一些影響

And here is some eye candy for you, from a range of

然後這些是一些讓你們開開眼界的東西

DIY scientists and artists

從全球的一些

from all over the globe.

DIY科學家或是藝術家

Cymatics is accessible to everybody.

cymatics就在我們身邊周遭

I want to urge everybody here to

我想要鼓勵在做的各位

apply your passion, your knowledge

運用你們的熱情 你們的知識 你們的專業

and your skills to areas like cymatics.

奉獻在一些像cymatics這方面的領域

I think collectively we can build a global community.

我們可以透過全體的努力來創造一個全球的溝通網

We can inspire each other.

我們可以鼓勵彼此

And we can evolve this exploration

我們能夠慢慢探索我們所未見到的物質

of the substance of things not seen. Thank you.

謝謝你們的聆聽

(Applause)

(鼓掌聲)