Photograph of a crowded table top in front of a large window with yellow curtains. There is a row of plants along the back in the sun, and various containers and art supplies. In the middle is a harmonograph, which is a contraption that is angled almost like a pyramid when looking at it from a side. It has angled bars which hold a platform at the top. From the corners of the platform, strings hang down and support the corners of a suspended surface. Above that and attached to the bars is an arm which holds a drawing instrument. It is balanced so that the instrument (like a marker) rests on the surface but does not create enough friction to inhibit the movement of the suspended surface.
One places paper on the suspended surface, rests the drawing instrument on the paper and then pulls the drawing surface to one side and releases it. A visual map of the movement is created and, when aligned at different intervals, produce patterns of harmony.
The Harmonograph I made for my show, Temporal Dichotomy, still lives in my studio.
#SciArt #harmonograph