Geraldine Cox, Artist in Residence, Physics

Thought Experiment

Thought Experiment by Geraldine Cox

Geraldine Cox has been our artist in residence since April. Her paintings can now be seen within the department and her drawings viewed on the plasma screen on L3 Blackett.

Finding Patterns

Geraldine Cox Painting L3

Leverhulme artist in residence, Geraldine Cox asks ‘how an understanding of physics can inform the way we see the world?’

Geraldine Cox has joined the Imperial College Physics Department as ‘artist in residence’. Since April, she has been spending time with physicists throughout the eleven floors of the Blackett building and beyond.  She is interested in how the richness gained through an understanding of physics can marry with art and life.

Geraldine, who originally trained in physics and then studied art, began her adventure last year when she got in touch with quantum information theorist, Terry Rudolph, and asked him to help her bring physics and art together. They were awarded a Leverhulme Trust grant earlier this year to support the project.

Geraldine most recently exhibited at The Royal Society in the Beyond Ourselves Exhibition and as a finalist in the MK Fringe National Painting Prize. She is also the recipient of two major Arts Council Awards. ‘The Physicist’, which was inspired by her first meetings with Terry Rudolph when she saw his window covered in equations and diagrams, was featured in an article in ‘The Times’ by Gia Milinovich in June. PHYSCIST

As part of her research, Geraldine has been documenting her conversations with physicists and sharing them on the project website alongside drawings she has made in meetings and lectures. There is also a selection of early paintings on display in Blackett levels 2 and 3 and in Lecture Theatre One and recent drawings are showing on the Blackett 3 monitor.

“It has been brilliant meeting so many people looking out at the world and trying to figure things out. You can read all about my experiences at the project site which is a weaving together of physics, art and life. I update it all the time, so please do keep visiting. One of the funny aspects is how so many people tell me that they are normal and everyone else in the department is abnormal. However there are a few, who confess to strangeness from the minute I meet them”.

Please visit the project web-site: www.findingpatterns.info

Showerhead

 

drawing 3

Images: (top to bottom)

  • Thought Experiment 2009, oil on linen, 150 x 160 cm
  • The Physicist, 2010, Oil on stretched translucent Japanese window paper, 45 x 20 cm
  • The Showerhead, from a conversation with cosmologist and astrophysicist, Andrew Jaffe, 2011, Printed image and text on paper. Image source: Nasa, http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/060917/index.html
  • Electromagnetism lecture - Peter Torok, 2010, charcoal and pencil on paper
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