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Art Contest Results

1st Place, Future Faces of Physics Category

Jeanette Powers, Undergraduate, Rockhurst University
for "In Dimension," a painting.
$75 cash prize.

Abstract
The painting begins with a point in the lower left corner. A point is described by zero dimension. A conglomeration of points in a row creates a line, which is one dimensional. Likewise, a collection of lines creates a plane, which is two dimensional. Finally, she approaches three dimensions in the right hand side of her face where an artist's concept of depth, volume and form is taken into account. The grid lines are left behind to show the beings that occupy the physical, spatial dimensions we live in. As you walk past this in a gallery, you experience it moving through time, and it lives with you in four dimensions. Fractal dimensions also enter into this piece. There are instances of a phase transition between laminar flow and viscous fingering, a fractal-like boundary. The underlying texture is created by using crumpled plastic wrap as a sort of stamp, and so is similar to the fractal dimension of the crumpled paper ball. This painting exemplifies the theme Future Faces of Physics both by being a self-portrait of an aspiring physicist and by addressing the emerging science of dynamical systems and fractal dimensions.

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