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Drop Tracer

To hear the sounds, click the play-button of the flash video above

Meteorologist Vincent J. Schaefer (1904-1993) devised a method for recording raindrops' collision with glass. A 35 mm glass slide is rubbed with silicone oil and coated with a thin layer of soot. When a drop of rain hits the surface, air trapped under the droplet lifts tiny bubbles of soot resulting in explosion like patterns on the slide. I adapted Schafer’s method to my purposes and added a contact microphone to catch the sound of the collision. A video projection shows the formation of the splashes. The patterns are also scanned and printed on paper.

Drop Tracer - raindrops on soot-coated 35 mm glass slides
Drop Tracer - splash patterns on soot–coated glass slides: scanned, enlarged and printed in 60x45cm size.
Drop Tracer - splash patterns on soot–coated glass slides: scanned, enlarged and printed in 110x166 cm size.
Drop Tracer at the Kluuvi gallery exhibition 2013
Drop Tracer at the Kluuvi gallery exhibition 2013 - detail