ShareQuest for the eternal bubble
Two Paris-based artists, Olivier Dollinger and Jochen Dehn, are attempting to freeze a liquid bubble permanently. The bubble is to be suspended in mid-air thanks to a refined air-flow system, in a large low-temperature refrigerated display cabinet.
Two Paris-based artists, Olivier Dollinger and Jochen Dehn, are attempting to permanently freeze a liquid bubble. The bubble is to be suspended in mid-air thanks to a refined air-flow system, in a large low-temperature refrigerated display cabinet, as part of an installation.
The installation goes along with a video featuring a bubble-character travelling through the rooms of the Souffleries Climatiques Jules Verne, a highly-equipped climatic test centre within the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment (CSTB).
Together with the director of the CSTB Climatology and Aerodynamics department (CAPE) Pierre Pallier, the artists were able to freeze average-sized bubbles with a life cycle of up to 12 hours, after which the bubbles either shattered into dust at -24°C or sagged at -17°C, most certainly due to evaporation altering the bubble’s physical structure.
CSTB’s simulator is a public centre dedicated to innovation and research in the building sector and is located near Nantes, France. It can artificially simulate any type of earth-climate condition, with temperatures ranging from -32°C to +55° thanks to heat exchangers of up to 2000 kW; rain downpours falling at up to 200mm/h; solar radiation up to 120W/m²; air humidity from 30-95% and the possibility of producing fog, snow, hailstones and frost.
Six fan ventilators with an overall power of 3200 kW and one 1000 kW variable-speed ventilator make it possible to simulate wind up to 280 km/h.
The next challenge the artists are hoping to achieve is to freeze bubbles for at least 24 hours. The life-cycle of the bubbles would be displayed, from their creation to their destruction, as part of a performance and installation. But ultimately the artists wish to produce a permanently frozen, hovering bubble. This could require expertise in material-property physics or air-moisture control and airflow management. The artists are currently seeking technical support in order to achieve this feat.
The project, funded by French National Centre for the Visual Arts (CNAP) and the Rothschild Foundation, will first be exhibited on October 5, 2013 during Paris’ highly popular cultural event “Les Nuits Blanches” then throughout France and worldwide.
The installation goes along with a video featuring a bubble-character travelling through the rooms of the Souffleries Climatiques Jules Verne, a highly-equipped climatic test centre within the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment (CSTB).
Together with the director of the CSTB Climatology and Aerodynamics department (CAPE) Pierre Pallier, the artists were able to freeze average-sized bubbles with a life cycle of up to 12 hours, after which the bubbles either shattered into dust at -24°C or sagged at -17°C, most certainly due to evaporation altering the bubble’s physical structure.
CSTB’s simulator is a public centre dedicated to innovation and research in the building sector and is located near Nantes, France. It can artificially simulate any type of earth-climate condition, with temperatures ranging from -32°C to +55° thanks to heat exchangers of up to 2000 kW; rain downpours falling at up to 200mm/h; solar radiation up to 120W/m²; air humidity from 30-95% and the possibility of producing fog, snow, hailstones and frost.
Six fan ventilators with an overall power of 3200 kW and one 1000 kW variable-speed ventilator make it possible to simulate wind up to 280 km/h.
The next challenge the artists are hoping to achieve is to freeze bubbles for at least 24 hours. The life-cycle of the bubbles would be displayed, from their creation to their destruction, as part of a performance and installation. But ultimately the artists wish to produce a permanently frozen, hovering bubble. This could require expertise in material-property physics or air-moisture control and airflow management. The artists are currently seeking technical support in order to achieve this feat.
The project, funded by French National Centre for the Visual Arts (CNAP) and the Rothschild Foundation, will first be exhibited on October 5, 2013 during Paris’ highly popular cultural event “Les Nuits Blanches” then throughout France and worldwide.