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Rainbow Maker 1 | Optical Gadgets
Project type
Optical Gadgets
Project description
Since the dawn of humanity, we have been driven to discover.
What we perceive is never complete, never absolute. In a world where nothing is fixed and everything is in constant motion, there are endless possibilities for new discoveries.
Through a collection of optical gadgets made from glass, I aim to reveal what normally remains invisible to the human eye. These objects function as tools that invite us to observe both ourselves and our surroundings in unfamiliar ways - allowing us to rediscover and revalue what we see.
Glass has always held profound importance for humanity because of its unique ability to refract and reflect light. By observing these objects from different angles, a variety of physical phenomena emerge and become visible. This shifting perspective opens the door to new ways of seeing, and new ways of being - if you will.
Date
2018
Partner
LIS - Bio Science Park, Leiden The Netherlands
RAINBOW MAKER 1
In the 17th century, Isaac Newton discovered a remarkable optical phenomenon while experimenting with lenses and light. When a curved lens was placed on a flat piece of glass, concentric circles of light and dark appeared, what later became known as Newton’s rings. These rings are created through interference: light waves reinforcing or canceling each other within the microscopic space between two surfaces.
The phenomenon became essential in the development of telescopes and precision optics. Because Newton’s rings reveal even the smallest deviations in a surface, lens makers and opticians were able to test and refine lenses with extreme accuracy. Even today, interference patterns are still used in the testing of telescopes, mirrors, and high-precision optical instruments.
Yet Newton’s rings also possess a poetic quality. They reveal what normally remains invisible: minute distances, tension, contact, imperfection. The colored patterns appear only under specific conditions, like a temporary trace of light itself. The same principle can be seen in a soap bubble or an oil slick on water, where thin layers split light into iridescent colors.
In this glass object, colored Newton’s rings emerge as a living optical surface. The work connects science and perception with something fleeting and sensory. The rings reveal not only the presence of light, but also the sensitivity of the material and the precision of form. Beauty emerges here not despite imperfection, but because of it — in the subtle space between two surfaces, made visible by light.
