Black Hole Orbits

Science is Real : A Black Hole Experience.

A black hole distorts, stretches, and tears apart all matter in its neighborhood, even stars.  The underlying mechanism is the strong tidal force exerted by the intense gravitational field of the black hole, which radically distorts spacetime itself. Using Pamela Davis Kivelson's art as input, Professor Biao Lian (Princeton), and Dr. Ruizhu Chen (Stanford) plotted black hole orbits that visualize the ways in which multimedia works and paintings of astronomical size would get distorted, break apart, and disintegrate in the vicinity of a black hole. The Lensing Photon Ring paintings are based on theoretical work by Dr Alex Lupsasca (Princeton) and further calculations by Dr. Laimei Nei ( UIUC) on the interactions of black holes with light. Part of the painting spirally falls into the black hole, while the rest picks up enough energy to escape the black hole. What you see is what happens to these paintings as they are rotated and distorted over time. Part of the painting spirally falls into the black hole, while the rest picks up enough energy to escape the black hole. What you see is what happens to these paintings as they are rotated and distorted over time.

Though the viewer is only nominally aware of the original narrative in the painting or drawing, that awareness is still creating a sly presence. Information is lost. Light rays, themselves are bent by the intense gravitational field of the black hole.The brushstrokes  are transformed by orbiting motion. That dreamlike vestigial presence of the original art is its "Art Shadow."  In them are embodied fragments of inspiration, memories and dreams. They are their own universe. They are the subtext of how we read or experience art, how we invent. These past and future encounters with art and beauty are the fabric of creative change. They are the elemental creative forces we search for.