The Invisible Architect

In the beginning, the universe was filled with sound. Immense pressure waves emanating from the big bang pushed matter outward until it collapsed—like ripples—around pockets of dark matter, leading to the creation of forms we now recognize as galaxies in space. The existence of these invisible energies, are only revealed in the forms themselves; oscillating and undulating masses floating in the cosmos. Similarly, as sound rolls through fluid matter, it shakes and pushes molecules into peaks and troughs, like hills and valleys assembled in synchronicity with a million small hands. These complex nodal patterns can be drawn from basic materials (like sand or water) by activating a thin membrane on which they are set, or simply by placing the material nearby a sound source. Responding to the frequency of the sine wave being produced, interweaving latticework and pulsating forms reveal the complexity of sound, while also bringing shape to the latent power that surrounds us. With momentary precision, photography allows us to capture a kind of invisible architect at work, exacting still frames from these evanescent forms. In the resulting images, patterns are re-contextualized into something of substance, scenes that are at once hauntingly universal and serene. In the same way that the simplicity of a Japanese rock garden can represent an entire world, the formation of the universe can be found in a single wave of sound.