Doubting Conventional Reality: Visual Art and Quantum Mechanics Lynden Elizabeth Stone BA LLM BFA (Hons) Queensland College of Art Arts Education and Law Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 2 Synopsis Quantum mechanics give significant cause to doubt conventional reality. This exegesis answers the question of how visual art, in engaging with quantum concepts, can enable a viewer to doubt conventional reality. I argue that visual art can do this by an artwork’s capacity to provoke unconventional thinking in the viewer and by the artist’s prudent considerations of materials and metaphor. I discuss my own artworks and those of others to assess the capacity of such works to cause ruptures of expected reality and so enable a viewer to doubt conventional reality. In particular, I argue that my three ‘mind works’ projects (the Metaphase Typewriter revival project, the Mind Lamp project and the Mind dispenser) are successful (even just on a metaphoric level) in enabling a viewer to doubt conventional reality. Specifically, this is because they provide the viewer opportunities to interact with events of quantum superposition, using only consciousness, to arguably affect or even create material reality. 3 4 Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. _____________________________ Lynden Elizabeth Stone 5 6 Table of Contents List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………………………9 Acknowledgement of Assistance………………………………………………………...15 Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..19 Chapter 2 The extent of conventional reality……………………………………...............29 Chapter 3 Conceptual foundation and engagement – quantum superposition…………49 Chapter 4 Conceptual foundation and engagement – the multiverse: a parallel proposition of non-collapse …………………………………………………………..77 Chapter 5 Conceptual foundation and engagement – quantum entanglement.………101 Chapter 6 Answering the “how” – provocation of unconventional thinking…………….117 Chapter 7 Answering the “how” – metaphors for the unvisualisable……………………147 Chapter 8 Considerations of materiality……………………………………………………171 Chapter 9 The mind works projects………………………………………………………...179 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………207 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………211 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………..217 DVD Attachment Objective reality 2011, digital video, 2:07 min The double-slit experiment 2011, digital video, 4:34 min And dead 2011, digital video, 3:06 min 7 8 List of Illustrations Figure 1. Lynden Stone, Metaphase Typewriter revival project 2012, Geiger counter, gas lamp mantle, wooden box, laptop, computer program, Perspex cover, dimensions variable. Figure 2. Lynden Stone The mirror box project 2009, resource photographs Figure 3. Lynden Stone The mirror box project 2009, resource photographs Figure 4. Lynden Stone Objective reality 2011, digital video, 2:07 min, video still Figure 5. Lynden Stone Objective reality 2011, digital video, 2:07 min, video still Figure 6. Julian Voss-Andreae Quantum Man 2007, stainless steel, 250 x 110 x 50cm. Photograph courtesy Julian Voss-Andrea. Figure 7. Daniel Crooks Static No. 12 (seek stillness in movement) 2010, digital video, 5:23 min, 16:9, 1080p24, video still, Stereo. Photograph courtesy Daniel Crooks and Anna Schwartz Gallery. Figure 8. Daniel Crooks, Static No. 12 (seek stillness in movement) 2010, digital video, 5:23 min, 16:9, 1080p24, video still, Stereo. Photograph courtesy Daniel Crooks and Anna Schwartz Gallery. Figure 9. Daniel Crooks, Static No. 12 (seek stillness in movement) 2010, digital video, 5:23 min, 16:9, 1080p24, video still, Stereo. Photograph courtesy Daniel Crooks and Anna Schwartz Gallery. Figure 10. Lynden Stone The double-slit experiment 2011, digital video, 4:34 min, video still Figure 11. Lynden Stone, The double-slit experiment 2011, digital video, 4:34 min, video still Figure 12. Lynden Stone, The double-slit experiment 2011, digital video, 4:34 min, video still Figure 13. David Shrigley I’m dead 2007, taxidermied cat, wooden sign, acrylic paint dimensions variable Figure 14. Lynden Stone Erwin’s puss 2011, oil on canvas 100 cm x 150cm. Photograph by Carl Warner. Figure 15. Lynden Stone And dead 2011, digital video, 3:06 min, media player, metal box (11 x 20 x 16cm), video still Figure 16. Lynden Stone Kevin wondered if the moon was there when he wasn’t looking 2010—12, oil on board, digital video, (2:05 min), media player, metal box (14.5 x 18.5 x 3cm), installed dimensions approximately 42 x 50 x 14cm. Photograph by Carl Warner. 9 Figure 17. Lynden Stone The superposition of Neville’s brain, also known as Wigner’s Friend 2010—13, oil on canvas and board, electrical wires, metal box (11 x 20 x 16cm), media player, digital video (8:35 min), installed dimensions approximately 89 x 120 x 16cm Figure 18. Antony Gormley Quantum Cloud 1999, steel sections, 3000 x 1600 x 1000cm. Photograph courtesy Andy Roberts. Figure 19. Lynden Stone In another universe, my mother gave me the two Mars Mars bars and love note from Robert Smeets 1993—2013, pastel on paper, award sash, oil on canvas, two Mars bars, pen on paper, glass jar and vase, plastic toy rocket, wooden cupboard, 96.5 x 180.5 x 13cm, installation view Figure 20. Lynden Stone In another universe, my mother gave me the two Mars bars and love note from Robert Smeets 1993—2013, pastel on paper, award sash, detail Figure 21. Lynden Stone In another universe, my mother gave me the two Mars bars and love note from Robert Smeets 1993—2013, oil on canvas, detail Figure 22. Lynden Stone Dribblejuice 2010—12, oil on board, inkjet print on cotton, viewing mirror, LED sensor light, chair, dimensions variable. Photograph by Renata Buziak. Figure 23. Lynden Stone Dribblejuice 2010—12, detail. Photograph by Carl Warner. Figure 24. Lynden Stone Dribblejuice 2010—2012, installation view Figure 25. Lynden Stone Dribblejuice 2010—2012, installation view. Photograph by Renata Buziak. Figure 26. Lynden Stone My father’s girlfriends, parallel alternatives 2012—13, acrylic and oil on board, digital video (9:11 min) dimensions variable Figure 27. Lynden Stone My father’s girlfriends, parallel alternatives 2012—13, detail, video still Figure 28. Lynden Stone My father’s girlfriends, parallel alternatives 2012—13, detail Figure 29. Lynden Stone Peter practiced every day with his Everett box 2011, oil on board, bicycle mirror, lenticular bookmark, 41.5 x 64cm. Photograph by Carl Warner. Figure 30. Denise Stewart-Sanabria Quantum Confusion 2010, charcoal on plywood, 244 x 549 x 244cm. Photograph courtesy Denise Stewart-Sanabria Figure 31. Denise Stewart-Sanabria’s Quantum Confusion 2010, detail. Photograph courtesy Denise Stewart-Sanabria 10 Figure 32. Laurent Grasso iheartmyart (from the Studies into the past series) 2010, oil on panel, 30 x 24cm Figure 33. Laurent Grasso Sphere (from the Studies into the past series) 2010, oil on panel, 32 x 25.5cm Figure 34. Lynden Stone A parallel alternative: Nixon and Khrushchev in the kitchen exchanging flatus (Moscow, 1959) 2013, wood and steel barrel, 24 x 30 x 24cm, laser print poster (94 x 64 cm) portable media player, video, 2:37 min, metal and plastic viewing box, installed dimensions variable Figure 35. Lynden Stone A parallel alternative: Nixon and Khrushchev in the kitchen exchanging flatus (Moscow, 1959) 2013, detail Figure 36. Lynden Stone A parallel alternative: Nixon and Khrushchev in the kitchen exchanging flatus (Moscow, 1959) 2013, detail Figure 37. Lynden Stone A parallel alternative: Nixon and Khrushchev in the kitchen exchanging flatus (Moscow, 1959) 2013, detail Figure 38. Lynden Stone A parallel alternative: Nixon and Khrushchev in the kitchen exchanging flatus (Moscow, 1959) 2013, detail. Photograph by Carl Warner. Figure 39. Victor Fota Quantum Entanglement n.d., oil and metal leaf on canvas, 48 x 38cm Figure 40. Regina Valluzzi Entangled 2012 , acrylic on canvas Figure 41. Koji Ryui Quantum Entanglement 2010, poly-coated wire, garden wire, steel rod, laminated particle board, peg board, carbon meteorite, plastic, sand, plastic ball, wood, painted cane stool, installation view, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Figure 42. Koji Ryui Quantum Entanglement 2010, installation view, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Image courtesy of the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Figure 43. Lucy McKenna Galaxy Dioramas 2012, wooden box, lens, mirror, plastic, slide image, LED, battery, installation view and detail. Photograph courtesy Lucy McKenna. Figure 44. Lucy McKenna Galaxy Dioramas 2012, detail of interior view through peephole. Photograph courtesy Lucy McKenna. Figure 45. Lucy McKenna Beta barium borate crystal 2012, beta barium borate crystal, plastic box. Photograph courtesy Lucy McKenna. 11 Figure 46. Lucy McKenna Beta barium borate crystal 2012, beta barium borate crystal, plastic box. Photograph courtesy Lucy McKenna. Figure 47. Lucy McKenna Quantizing Portents 2012, three video stills. Photograph courtesy Lucy McKenna. Figure 48. Jonathon Keats Quantum Entanglements 2011, nonlinear beta- barium borate crystal, beam splitter, condensing lens, mirror, installation view. Photograph courtesy of Jonathon Keats. Figure 49. Jonathon Keats Quantum