Reading Assignment 4 and Science project

"Flow Pattern"

In Geography 3B, the lecture discussed streamflow and fluvial patterns.
The following link leads to the lecture notes. Lecture Notes
The Professor used a virtual 3D model of how obstacles within a river channel redirect the flow of water, creating an interesting pattern of ripples and erosion.
This information inspired our group to create a physical model showing this process using colored paint to demonstrate the ripple interactions and pattern intricasies. Our project will consist of a wooden plank representing the river bed, propped at an angle and bordered with two side pannels. Obstacles glued on the plank will act as the rocks within the stream channel. Directing the downward flow of liquid are three cans, funneling different colors of oil based paint. As the paint flows down the channel and around the obstacles, the viewer will witness the interesting design of interacting colors. We call our project flow pattern.

Materials:

Oil based paint

wooden platform

obstacles such as rocks

hollow tin cans used to pour paint

Our world is full of natural wonders, that often go overlooked and underappreciated. Take for instance, the formation of rivers and streams. Many people never think about how a river came to be, they just accept it as what it is – simply a river. But, in fact, river formation entails a very lengthy process (millions of years) of stream erosion, transportation, and deposition. The rivers that we see are the result of a completely transformed tectonic landscape

The instigator of all this change is simple – the movement of water. When water flows downward due to gravity, it carries sediment downslope, leaving stream channels carved into the landscape. As the gradient of the of the river increases, so does the velocity. The resulting force of water moving downstream downcuts on the bed rock and causes a gradual flattening of the stream bed.

My group got inspired by the fluvial motion seen in this virtual model. We wanted to further explore the turbulent flow of water found in most stream channels. Turbulent flow involves individual fluvial molecules which move in complex eddies.

turbulent flow

Here is a drawn diagram of our project. This demonstrates how the paint will flow down the wooden plank due to the force of gravity, disperse at the rock obstacles, and create colorful fluvial patterns.

Results will end in...

The concept of water motion and stream formation is pretty difficult to understand from words alone. It is something that has to be witnessed visibly in order to completely understand. Fortunately we can use art models to demonstrate hard-to-grasp ideas. In the reading "Elaboration on the Approach of Art as Research" by Stephen Wilson, he discusses how the arts can function as an independent zone of research. Like the role of art in our project, we are illustrating the scientific research of water movement in order to be more easily comprehendible. This reading discusses the fact that an artist's involvement with scientific research is beneficial to realms of science because they can make information visually appealing and accessible.

While most water motion is difficult to detect visually because of its transparent characteric, the use of different colored paint in our project will better demonstrate the motion and interaction of fluvial molecules during streamflow. Our artistic attempt at presenting science from a different perspective is a point that Jonah Lehrer’s article “The Future of Science is Art,” in his justification of how art benefits science. He claims that art can help make the scientific metaphors tangible. He also claims that “the arts can help us reattach physics to the world we experience”, meaning that by creating the artwork, more attention will be focused on the intended idea than there would have been otherwise. Our project, if displayed in the context of an art gallery, would force people to reevaluate such a natural phenomenon that often goes overlooked. Hopefully, the spectators will gain a greater appreciation for the beauty within nature.

Even Leonardo Da Vinci tried to grasp the concept and visual representation of water movement.

The nice thing about our art project is we don't need a PhD in order to convey these scientific studies. As said in the interview by Natalie Jeremijenko and Lawrence Krauss, it is important for young people in our society to participate in science. We are not only participating, but we are allowing the spectators to participate in this art project as well. Our model is interactive, requiring the spectator to activate the fluvial designs and therefore, gaining a better scientific understanding. Natalie poses the question, "How do you ultimately answer the question: 'How do I participate?' Because the fact is, when it comes to scientific knowledge production, most people don't know." This project is allowing us and others to participate in science.

Our same project idea is presented in Hans H Diebner's article "Performative Science". He specifies that a main characteristic of performances is the emphasis on the uncontrollable moments. These moments cannot be grasped in words, they can only be embraced by the performance. In Flow Pattern, the effect of the art is only experienced when someone performs the paint pouring action. While the spectator is creating the paint designs and witnessing the science taking place, he/she is playing the role of the scientific researcher, actively involved in what he/she is examining. And just as a researcher repeats experiments in order to provoke a varied manifestation of the examined object and make conclusions, the art spectator would repeatedly participate in the artwork to create new outcomes. These performances, Diebner argues, "are useful to understand the own theoretical models or the observed occurrence in a deeper or different way." Our art project aims to be educational in addition to an aesthetically interesting art piece.

For those unable to witness Flow Pattern firsthand, a video proof will be created to include the public into the research process by providing appropriate interfaces.