Science can inspire art and art science - just ask Mark Miodownik, a mechanical engineer, and Jane Prophet, an artist, whose collaboration in the use of novel materials sparked a creative buzz
NEW MATERIALS THAT ARTISTS DREAM OF
- WIRELESS POWER. No matter how hard I try to love power cables and to make their presence in my installations aesthetically pleasing, or at least neutral, they really bug me. They trail and are a trip hazard. They are supposedly flexible but inherently contrary. They look tatty within moments and are sensitive to water and damp. What I would like most is wireless power for video cameras, screens and projectors.
- LUMINESCENT MALLEABLE PUTTY. This would have to pass the Blue Peter test -that is, it would have to be fun and not require a PhD to use. Wireless, luminescent, malleable putty should be flexible when rolled between hands or immersed in warm water, but once moulded would set hard. I could use it to make intricate (but robust) glowing vascular structures.
- PHOSPHORESCENT PARTICLES. I plan to start working with phosphorescent organisms to make liquid environments in which aquatic robots leave illuminated trails. But I worry. Phosphorescent organisms are creatures, and if my experience with wormery composters is anything to go by, I will probably kill them (accidentally). So I would love artificial phosphorescent particles that glow, tumble and glide when put into agitated water.
- NON-SCRATCH ACRYLIC SHEETING. This could be bonded to large photographic prints so they could be dusted without mishap. Currently, even careful cleaning tends to scratch the surface.
- ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CONCRETE. There are many projects that I would like to realise with concrete, such as 12m tree forms "piped" like icing from a nozzle-holding gantry robot and coated with glow-in-the-dark paint. But I'm troubled by concrete's non eco-friendly reputation and the issue of what to do with the inevitable mistakes. For every ton of cement produced, almost a ton of carbon dioxide is emitted.