Re-inspired by The Electrochemical Glass, I decided to once again experiment with geometrical arrangements of metal discs.

I created two near identical reaction works, T1 & T2, the same arrangement of metals and a share of the same electrolyte in equal portions.

However, due to a faulty seal, one work, T2 began to leak, electrolyte dripping down the wall of my studio. I was aghast! Dismayed!!

But interestingly this ‘failure’ has resulted in two very different electrochemical reactions taking place. T1 seems to be simply growing copper dendrites, whilst the leaky T2 has produced a completely different set of reactions with the central iron disc producing orange ferrous compounds and the outer aluminium discs a range of blue and green cupric compounds.

The works were documented as they evolved, a webcam time lapse recording of the T2 reaction, a frame automatically taken every 10 minutes and a photograph manually taken of the T1 Reaction every 12 hours.

However the leak eventually led to the T2 reaction drying out such that the ongoing electrochemical reactions finally ceased taking place. As a result I abandoned the time lapse of T2, swapping it to time lapse the continuing dendritic T1 Reaction.

Rather than abandoning the dried out and leaky T2 Reaction, I attempted to seal the leaks and support the evolution of the work by the adding of electrolyte.

What have I learnt? Apart from the need to find a better and more foolproof method of creating good seals between disparate materials, the construction failure resulted in recognising the powerful effect of ‘environmental conditions’, in this case the ratio of liquid to air.

T1 was well sealed and full of liquid, whereas with T2 there was much more air and less liquid, promoting a series of clearly different, possibly oxygen related reactions. The fact that as yet, the iron in T1 has not produced any orange ferrous oxide compunds tends to support this observation.

In addition the electrochemical reactions requiring the presence of a conductive electrolyte are visibly stronger in T1 with the presence of continually growing copper dendrites, perhaps the electrical reactions are taking precedence over the mainly chemical reactions prevalent in T2.

This argument is supported by the observation that the two lower discs in T1, being more immersed in electrolyte are rich with dendritic growth whilst the upper disc being far less immersed shows only a small amount of dendritic growth coupled with tell tale blue chemical reactions indicating copper compounds.

The latest image (above) suggests that the dendrites on the two lower discs are beginning to decompose too, transforming into blue and green cupric compounds, possibly due to the slow decline of electrochemical activity.. Time will tell…

Since the emergence of iron dendrites in the Electrochemical Glass (1997 – present) and through observing the reactions in recent works (V1 – V5 series, 2022), iron appears to be an interesting and significant if relatively slow reactive element.

Aluminium and copper react quickly (over days) producing copper dendrites which then dissolve into beautiful blue compounds, whereas over many weeks, iron slowly turns orange, brown and black producing strange forms which stir the imagination into seeing faces, animals trees and bushes.

The challenge is to enhance the iron reactions and research has led me to investigate whether a chemical process known as chelation might promote the process.

“Chelation is a type of bonding of ions and molecules to metal ions. It involves the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central metal atom.” (Wikipedia)

As a first experiment I have chosen to test the readily available chelated compound EDTA iron which is used as an iron supplement in fertilisers bring readily soluble in water.

EDTA stands for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic and represents an interesting branch of chemistry involving ‘ligands’, an amalgamation of inorganic and organic chemistry where organic structures bond with inorganic elements such as iron.

The second image shows the immediate effects a few days after adding EDTA iron solution to the V5 reaction.

Orange (iron) compounds are forming over the underlying aluminium ‘hill’ and within it, indicating the beginning of a new set of reactions.

It will be interesting to see how this work now develops!

Images taken with digital camera vs phone, a noticeable improvement and potentially print worthy..

The Electrochemical Glass was created in 1997. It was an experimental work consisting of three metal discs, copper, iron and aluminium, cotton wool and conductive fluid sandwiched between glass sheets.

I expected a reaction between the differing metals, and the formation of bright blue and green colours from the metal salts. However I was not prepared for the root like formations emerging from the iron!

I later discovered that alchemists, including Isaac Newton had also explored techniques for producing what they termed Vegetative Metals, organic forms resulting from alchemical processes, with names such as Tree of Diana (silver) and Tree of Mars (iron). http://arcana.wikidot.com/vegetation-of-metal

To this day I have not yet reproduced this surprising example of emergence, only suggestions of the effect with the assistance of external electrical stimuli as can be seen in the images below.

A solar panel provided the electricity causing copper dendrites to grow over a few days, unlike ‘The Electrochemical Glass’, where the dendritic formations took five years to begin to emerge, followed by one long dendritic root emerging over a period of five months (July – December 2003).

My theory is that the metals and fluid in ‘The Electrochemical Glass’ act as a very weak battery and the iron took a long time to dissolve and provide sufficient metal ions necessary for the formation of the iron dendrites.

In contrast, the alchemical experiments Tree of Mars/Diana used exceedingly strong acids to dissolve the metals such as “Spirit of Nitre”, “Aqueous Forte” aka Nitric acid.

The electrochemical formation of copper dendrites powered by a solar panel (24/8/2020) was further assisted by copper ions being readily available in the copper sulphate electrolyte, a solution obtained by dissolving copper in sulphuric acid.

Given the above observations it should be possible to replicate the Electrochemical Glass where the iron dendrites emerge over a much shorter time period than five years!

As mentioned in previous posts, the art of revealing the ongoing ‘invisible’ reactions in my work is key to their understanding and contemplation.

Time lapse video is one method, somewhat related is GIF animation, a method I have just begun to explore.

Timelapse video recording requires a digital camera and artificial lighting, as well as a computer, all fixed in place and permanently powered during the recording process. The requisite technology means the work cannot be easily viewed as in a gallery context.

In my #openstudioscornwall2022 exhibition, the relatively new work ‘V3 Reaction’ is developing many intriguing artifacts and changes in form and colour as the electrochemical reactions proceed.

The type of time lapse recording previously used is not feasible in the current gallery context, so I’ve taken to taking a photograph every morning before the show opens. Careful cropping and the use of a gif animation app on my phone is producing a type of time lapse animation where the electrochemical changes are made highly visible, if a little jumpy.

For some time I have been interested in alchemy as a source of creative inspiration and as an ongoing self-reflective process.

After Jung, the gold is within and alchemical processes act upon the world of things and on the more subtle etheric notions within. Processes such as distillation, calcination, dissolution, conjunction and fermentation – described in The Seven Stages of Alchemical Transformation

In 2003 I wrote the paper: Alchemy, mimetics, immersion and consciousness, which was published at MelbourneDAC, the 5th International Digital Arts and Culture Conference, 2003.

“In this paper I discuss a number of ideas on the representation and perception of space, time and energy and how these ideas have been inspirational in creating experiential art works. Areas I have explored include the concept of a fourth dimension, alchemy, mimetics, immersion, artificial-life and ideas about the nature of consciousness. I carry out these explorations through “art as a mode of enquiry”, producing experiential artworks rather than written theory. This paper summarises a number of ideas I have found useful and inspiring in creating artworks that explore the perception and experience of space, time and consciousness.”

19 years later, in 2022 the processes of creation and reflection continue. Notions of Dynamic Form and the Fourth Dimension are imbued in my practice, permeating the work I make.

Today two visitors to my exhibition at #OpenStudiosCornwall2022 pointed out the importance of the timelapse video, that it revealed the unseen and the hidden processes behind two of the works, V1 Reaction and V3 Reaction. This additional knowledge enhanced their appreciation of the work, apparently unmoving and unchanging in the present.

It is not the immediately perceived that is important, but instead it is the mainly invisible time based processes of change and emergence that can only be perceived through the device of memory.

“Our understanding of space-time is shaped by our everyday perceptual mechanisms. Time is perplexing, it is seemingly artiicial and malleable. Hypnosis, meditation, mind-altering substances, mental illness and accidental head injuries reveal how our perception of time may be altered.” (see paper above)

Imagine that we might be able to look at the world where space-time might be altered, slowed down, speeded up, reversed or extrapolated into possible futures.

In my previous post this idea is at the heart of the formation of a new work, one that enables a distant viewer to look at the art work in the present, or wind it back, slow it down, speed it up, look at it moving forwards or backwards in time, or in the current moment, the present, at the very edge of the unfolding of time.

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It’s been two years since my last open studio in Cornwall. Since then my efforts to harness the processes of electrochemical reactions for creative expression have developed somewhat.

#openstudioscornwall2022

The repurposing of old picture frames has provided an ideal ‘container’ and means of displaying new works.

Various experiments with metals, materials and solutions have also led to formulae and methods for producing multiples.

What I find most fascinating and inspiring is how the work develops and evolves over time, no two reactions being the same, producing very different ‘scenes’.

I say scenes as this is the envisaged result, by choosing the appropriate metals and their arrangement and specific solutions, I can create the conditions for emergent reactions that suggest naturalistic landscapes, rock formations, hills and trees, underwater scenes.

Creating a small scale exhibition for a viewing public has also challenged me in how to convey the time based processes that is hidden in a single viewing of a work where the appearance of a work can vary from one day to another.

I gain great pleasure in visiting each work everyday to see how it has changed. Its akin to watching a plant grow, except here there is always an element of surprise, no two reactions ever produce the exact same result.

How to convey this emergent process to a viewer who is seeing the work for the first time with no memory of how it looked when it was first created?

One method that attempts to convey the changing appearance of a work has been the use of digital timelapse, using a Web cam and time lapse software. Below are two short time lapse videos of the works illustrated above, V1 and V3.

Timelapse video of V1 Reaction, 2 minute duration depicting electrochemical reactions over 17 days, 1/4 – 18/4 2022, 1 frame taken every 5 minutes.

Timelapse video of V3 Reaction, 2 minute duration depicting electrochemical reactions over 7 days, 12/5 – 19/5 2022, 1 frame taken every 5 minutes.

The timelapse does illustrate a sample of the electrochemical processing, however it does not have the immediacy or presence of a live viewing.

In 2001, during an art residency at CEMA, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, I created an installation entitled ‘The Preservation of Entropy’.

The installation used electrochemical processes to alter three metals (iron, copper, aluminium) in three hand made glass flasks containing three solutions (acid, alkaline, salt).

The reactions generated changing electric signals which were monitored and recorded using bespoke software. The installation was located in a thoroughfare and received regular visitors who would see the work change every day.

I also wanted to capture and convey the changing processes remotely. To achieve this I used a timelapse technique where a webcam frame of one of the glass vessels was uploaded to a remote server such that people could watch a growing time lapse video, recorded from day one.

I am planning on creating a new ‘live installation’ that amalgamates techniques inherent in my recent works with the concept of ‘an electrochemical process time lapse broadcast’ derived from ‘The Preservation of Entropy’.