Event 5 - Dr. Gekelman 'Fourth State of Matter'

Dr. Walter Gekelman, a researcher and foremost expert into the workings of plasma, inspired a group of students to create an art gallery based on one of the intrinsic properties of plasma; entropy. His talk to us about The Fourth State of Matter was all about the unique characteristics of plasma. Plasma is created by giving enough energy to an atom that the electrons become hyper excited and dissociate and reassociate with the atom spontaneously. This unstable state of matter only lasts for a billionth of a second at a time, but Dr. Gekelman considers this "a long time." His lab is more advanced and uses more energy than the entire city of Westwood combined, so he has the opportunity to stay away from "cool plasma" which is around 12 million degrees Celsius, and he is able to work with hotter and longer lasting plasma at a cozier 300 million degrees Celsius.

The data and numbers Dr. Gekelman is forced to work with are crazy, and requires extremely precise materials and intruments. And with this kind of dedication to the fourth state of matter, he inspired the UCLA Art Science Undergraduate Society to expand on a major characteristic of plasma; entropy. Entropy is the amount of disorder in a system or environment, and following suit the exhibit was titled Nonlinear Perspectives. And the different visions of entropy created a very unique collection of art pieces that had many profound meanings and interpretations.

This piece delved into the disorder of                 This piece saw a man figure in the center
the mind. The face is calm and but the                of a thunder storm. Depicting a human's
mind is in a state of disorder. The piece              condition as disordered and unpredictable.
is planned to have a set of faces which               The piece was interactive and the viewer
expresses the disorder through facial                  could move the lightning around leading
features in a time-lapsed order.                           to an endless amount of disorder possibilities.






















This piece was a gif of a math function                        This piece was a set of three that
that gave a multidimensional structure                         portrayed the disorder of a life from
as its solution. The function was a chaotic                   infancy to adolescence, and into late
system, so it is highly variable based on                      adulthood. Each painting gets more
the initial conditions and can only be                           disordered with its relevant depiction of
predicted in the short term.                                           an age group, and forms a cyclic piece                                                                                         to allude to the circle of life.





Sources

 "ALL ABOUT ENTROPY, THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS, AND ORDER FROM DISORDER." ENTROPYLAW.COM. Archives of Science, 2001. Web. 30 May 2016.

 

 Gekelman, Walter. "Fourth State of Matter." Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous. UCLA, Westwood. 19 May 2016. Lecture.

 Humboldt State University. "Atmospheric Absorption & Transmission." GSP 216 Introduction to Remotes Sensing. Humboldt State Geospatial Online, 2015. Web. 24 May 2016.

 HyperPhysics. "Nuclear Fusion." Nuclear Fusion. HyperPhysics. Web. 24 May 2016.

 Nonlinear Perspective. Dir. UCLA Art Science Undergraduate Society. UCLA, Westwood. 19 May 2016. Performance.