States of Matter

• Clockwise - Art Film (Runtime 3:26) Toni Mitjanit, Spain

  Clockwise (2021) is a generative and experimental audiovisual piece that explores the concept of space-time, Zeno's paradoxes related to the infinite subdivision of the units of measurement of space and time (dichotomy and arrow paradoxes), and their experimental abstract audiovisual representations.

  Clockwise started during an experimental studio session with composer/producer Daniele Carmosino and composer/pianist Mark Aanderud. During the session they modified the piano adding a layer of tissue paper between the piano hammers and the cords, creating a beautiful percussive crispy sound that inspired a very rhythmic improvisation by Mark. That was the base on which Daniele created the rest of the track, recording an opera singer and live horns and manipulating the sounds through analogue gear. The track was then mixed and mastered by Juan Ribes at Ribes Mastering.

  Later the Clockwise visuals were generated through creative programming by the experimental animator Toni Mitjanit (AKA Spaghetti Coder) with the use of different algorithms of recursive subdivision of polygons, motion graphics techniques, computational complexity and randomness, audio-reactivity based on the analysis of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), and a touch of human-machine interaction.

  Different geometric patterns emerge chaotically in the audiovisual piece as they are recursively decomposed and subdivided using randomness, noise and data extracted from the audio to determine the polygonal subdivision technique to apply, the color palette to use, 3d transformation properties (position, scale and rotation) and many other visual aspects. In the visual design Toni Mitjanit was inspired by the mosaics of the pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi and the tapestries of Gunta Stölzl and the Bauhaus school, but applying a very close approach to pixel art and visual music.

• Fire - Documentary Film (Runtime: 4:59) Alberto Magidin Nulman & Ana Luisa Vega Montes de Oca, Mexico

  A brief history of fire.

  The short film traces the birth of thermodynamics and depicts how physics has changed the way we use heat and measure its impact on the environment.

• Phosphene - Art Film (Runtime 2:52) David Bickley, Ireland

  I met up with Stevie Cussons on a residency in Cornwall with Mayes Creative and The Royal Astronomical Society. We have made a number of collaborations of which this is one. The 16m film shots were captured many years ago in a cave system in Yorkshire and these were adopted as new source material to provoke print making responses from Stevie. These new images were subsequently processed into pliable moving textures and sequenced with the original footage, creating a journey narrative and taking the viewer deep into the labyrinthine earth and consequently the complexities of their personal responses to the act of watching — the text is from Irish mystic and contemporary of Yeats, George Russell.

  Stevie —  “I have been walking the coast paths and have been draw to, and drawn, the many Neolithic structures which litter those linked, liminal landscapes. I am fascinated by the carved marks found on these sites. A recurrent suggestion is that these symbols, which include whorls, spirals, zig-zags etc, are phosphenes. These are designs 'seen' but originating inside the brain, rather than through the eye, and which are induced by shamanistic practices, meditation, sensory deprivation, psychotropic substances or other 'mind altering' experiences. Such designs are found throughout the world in cave and other early art. These images triggered a memory and I realised that I had in fact seen them myself, years ago, when caving, having switched off my lamp to experience the complete darkness. After a while, I would see these scintillating forms which I now know are termed 'Prisoner's Cinema'.

• Event Coincidence - Fiction Film (Runtime 13:47) Erik Boccio, USA
  
  What is an event coincidence? It's a tool that can unlock powerful discoveries. Part biopic and part science fiction, “Event
  Coincidence” is a short film about the enduring power of scientific ideas and the complex legacy of 20th century particle physics. Inspired by true events and the life of American physicist Seth Neddermeyer (1907-1988), the co-discoverer of the muon who later went on to work with Oppenheimer as a key member of the Manhattan Project in World War II. This film gives a glimpse into the story behind the discovery of the muon, which helped expand our understanding of the nature of matter and made it possible to launch a new field of science called muography.
  

• DNA Break Repair by Homologous Recombination - Art Film (Runtime 3:45) Drew Berry, Australia
  
  Homologous recombination is crucial in repairing double-strand breaks in DNA, correcting errors, and maintaining genomic integrity.
  
  This animation highlights the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in DNA break repair in homologous recombination.
  
  Designed to support outreach on WEHI research into breast cancer and provide world-class education materials on foundational cell biology topics.

• Graphene - Documentary Film (Runtime 5:06) Hugo Sindelar & Akash Gulati, USA
  
  Graphene tells the story of how two everyday items—a pencil and Scotch tape—led to one of the most groundbreaking discoveries of the 21st century. This short documentary explores graphene, the world’s thinnest material, which earned its discoverers the Nobel Prize in Physics. Heralded as one of the most important discoveries of our time, graphene has vast applications in electronics, medicine, and energy. It is also a valuable tool for physicists studying the fundamental science. Amazingly, this revolutionary material can be created using just a pencil and tape. At its heart, Graphene shows how simple tools, and curiosity can lead to extraordinary breakthroughs.

• Another Oppenheimer - Art Film (Runtime 3:50) John Akre, USA

  J. Robert Oppenheimer's brother Frank had a career as twisted and turning as that of his famous brother. Frank's favorite film was a hand-drawn direct film animation by Norman McLaren. This movie uses that style to tell the story of Frank Oppenheimer.