The "Atomic Artist"
Shortly after the death of North Carolinian artist Alyce Rothlein Simon, art collector David Heatwole stumbled upon a collection of smaller works of art and experiments captured in acrylic in an online auction on Ebay.com. He purchased this small collection to add to his growing collection of art related to the themes of "Energy" and "Synergy". He said that this addition to the collection was important as it demonstrates the power of what was once unseen with what is visible to the eye.
In the early 1960s, artist Alyce Rothlein Simon worked in New York City. She received her education at a number of institutions, including Syracuse University, the Brooklyn Museum Art School, and the Pratt Institute. She worked in a variety of traditional mediums including paints such as oils, acrylics and watercolors to name a few but she also loved to experiment with other mediums. Dr. Kennard Morganstern offered Simon the use of Radiation Dynamics' facilities in 1962 to experiment with their patented machine called the Dynamitron, a particle accelerator manufactured by Radiation Dynamics. Eventually it was the art that she made using this mammoth scientific tool that earned her the title "Atomic Artist" and really put her on the map in the international art world and beyond.
German physicist, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg found in 1777 that he could employ sparks to make undetectable patterns on a plate devoid of electrical conductivity. After powder that was electrically charged was deposited onto the plate, the branching patterns became apparent. His practice of this newly discovered science became known as the Lichtenberg figures. Centuries later artist Alyce Simon armed with the particle accelerator experimented with various materials such as wood, fabric and sheets of plexiglas but it was finally discovered that she could capture the energy in blocks of acrylics. She learned that the acrylic maintains its shape as long as the electric charge is not too strong. It was this discovery that truly changed her life as an artist and became her medium of choice for making art. After a lot of experimentation with thickness and shape of the acrylic blocks and using built up shields around the targeted acrylic forms, with help from Radiation Dynamics technical personnel to control the voltage in the beam of the particle accelerator she was able to not only alter the molecular structure of plastic blocks but could anticipate and control the basic output of the stunning energy "trees". The science behind the artifacts was explained by Dr. Bernard S. Finn, curator emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History museum for an exhibit that included work of "atomic" art by Simon: "Such patterns can be produced when a high-voltage beam is discharged inside a non-conducting (dielectric) material. The electrons from the beam become trapped as long as the accumulated electric charge is not enough to break the bonds of the dielectric molecules." Simon once wrote of her art as a way to: "help bring about a more vivid and clear understanding of the world in which we live." She certainly did that and still today her work captures the imaginations and fascination of people all over the world. |