The Perfect Fifth

None of what you see on this cover is computer generated. This is composed of 100% real photographs. Curios isn't it? Gravity, one of the fundamental laws of the Universe, is a restoring force, and always acts to bring stability back to a system. Because of this, many things in nature (physics) display cyclical behavior when they are displaced from their equilibrium. A great example of this is the simple pendulum. The state of equilibrium for a pendulum is hanging straight down with no motion. Displace said pendulum? Well now you’ve got an unstable system looking to return to its happy place. This is the Pursuit of Equilibrium, all driven by a fundamental law of the Universe, gravity. This Pursuit of Equilibrium can create some of the most beautiful geometric patterns found in nature. The problem is, it’s invisible to the naked eye. However, by using the right tools and carefully controlling the environment, we can make the otherwise invisible, visible. What you see in this cover art is composed of individual light paintings of this process occurring in real time, each captured over 120 seconds. Now this isn’t your standard simple pendulum hanging on a string (what most are familiar with). These complex shapes are created through the use of a Blackburn pendulum. Blackburn pendulums are different in one key way: depending on the swing direction, the period of the pendulum (time it takes to swing out and back) is different. This creates modal coupling, and results in the complex shapes like the ones you see in the cover artwork. The color comes from the use of an RGB (red blue green) LED flashlight, built into the end of my pendulum. This allows me to set color sequences, transition styles between colors, and blink patterns. This is real-world generative artwork, created using the underlying code from our Universe. This 1/1 cover will be provided as both a digital and physical copy.