Once upon a time in 1885, Welsh singer, songwriter, scientist, and philanthropist Margaret Watts Hughes accidentally invented a method of turning her voice into images.
Hughes explained her invention, the eidophone, and her image-making process in an article for Century Magazine in 1891:
"In 1885, while seeking means to indicate readily the intensities of vocal sounds, I first met with these [voice] figures, and, owing to their variety both in form and production, they have since absorbed much of my attention. The apparatus I have employed I call the eidophone. This is very simple. It consists merely of an elastic membrane, such as thoroughly flexible soft sheet-rubber, tightly stretched over the mouth of a receiver of any form, into which receiver the voice is introduced by a wide-mouthed tube of convenient shape. In some cases the receiver may be dispensed with, and the membrane be stretched across the open end of the tube itself.
My first experiments were made with sand, lycopodium powder, or the two substances mixed. I then tried for the production of voice-figures, flooding the disk of the eidophone with a thin layer of liquid ; e.g. water or milk. Upon singing notes of suitable pitch through the tube, not too forcibly, beautiful crispations appear upon the surface of the liquid, which vary with every change of tone. A note sung too forcibly causes the liquid to rise in, a shower of spray, the movements of which are too rapid to be readily followed by the eye. To facilitate observation denser liquids may be used. By using such liquids as colored glycerin particularly beautiful effects may be obtained. Subsequently I found that by employing moistened powder of different consistencies yet another description of figures appears. The earliest result of my experiments in this material shows centers of motion from which radiations diverge."
By varying the sound of her voice and the materials and methods used to capture it, different patterns emerged.
If we dig a bit deeper into the process, we find greater complexity. Sophie B. Herrick did just that in Visible Sound – Comment [Century Magazine 42, 40 (1891)]:
These voice-flowers are not the simple visual forms corresponding with the vibrations of the air set in motion by the voice. The waves generated in the closed bowl of the eidophone are reflected again and again from the sides of the vessel. The volume of air inclosed has its own rate of vibration; the stretched membrane has also its own rate, which in turn is modified by the character and thickness of the paste spread upon it. Added to these are molecular forces of cohesion and adhesion between the particles of paste, and again between the paste and the membrane. The form which grows into shape is the resultant of all these complicated forces, and, in some instances, new elements of change have been added. A glass plate is placed on top of the vibrating membrane and moved over it. We have a new body introduced with its proper rate of vibration, besides a mechanical motion further to complicate the problem.
According to an article in MIT’s The Net Advance of Physics Weblog, Hughes’ “flower-like forms” were rediscovered in the 1960s by Swiss researcher Hans Jenny, who went on to coin the term cymatics to describe acoustic effects of sound wave phenomena. However it appears as if Jenny was only familiar with the black and white reproductions of Hughes works as published in her Century article.
The larger color works were thought to be lost(!) but were found in 2016 by the staff of the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, while digging through their archives. Taken as a whole, Hughes’ work has a foot in two camps —as part of the history and study of the physics of sound, and as part of the history of art. These works were displayed as such during her lifetime.
One can imagine that the Surrealists would have been quite taken with these voice-figures, automatism sans hands, and I find them quite beautiful and striking as works of visual art that do not fit the tidy androcentric narrative of history, art or otherwise (see Hilma af Klint for a similarly jarring example).
https://twitteringmachines.com/the-voice-made-visible-margaret-watts-hughes-and-her-eidophone/
https://medium.com/swlh/margaret-watts-hughes-and-the-shape-of-the-human-voice-d9f1a023c0c1
4 notes
·
View notes
Shinomori is cute. Here's a post.
He is so baby-faced. He hasn't changed at all since he was 22, to when he died of "old age" at 40
(Old age? With a face like that? 40 years old?? Gimme that kind of youth and hotness Shinomori-)
He has tiny eyebrows. Like a puppy's (rottweiler's, for example). So cute and tiny and fuffy
He naturally frowns. Look at him and his mouth and his lil nose
He has a thing about keeping his arms near his chest. He sits with his arms crossed, introduces himself with his hands over his torso, and even walks with his arms crossed toward Midoriya
He has such clear skin for someone who lived the rest of his life in a forest??? Why do Hikage and Yoichi have such nice skin despite living in terrible environments? (forest and vault + abandoned streets respectively)
Is easily scared
They knew their Quirks could be used, but Shinomori got scared of it when it happened. Even though he gave Midoriya his support and access to his Quirk beforehand. Depending on the translation; "it startled me", "you scared me", "it surprised me"
I'm not going to hold running from AFO against him because he knew he was running for his life. Who wouldn't run for their life when it's in danger? Shinomori was being chased by the strongest person in the country (and likely the world)
His sense of self-preservation is probably heightened by the nature of his Quirk to keep him out of danger too. Which makes him all the more sensitive and jumpy to danger and anything that startles him, especially when he has no warning
He's actually extremely tall, but is so socially inept and jumpy it's adorable. He's taller than Bruce.
Bruce is as tall as a vault door that the 2m AFO used.
(Meanwhile Kudo is down there-)
He has such a bad sense of humor that it's cute (his puns off Danger Sense)
It's also adorable how Shinomori just doesn't understand social conventions sometimes. He lived in a forest, so it made sense, but also— Midoriya shows up in the void to the vestige platform for the first time. He has no mouth, no clothes—and Shinomori's first idea is to stand in front of him menacingly and go: "I shall explain. I am Shinomori Hikage." SIRRRR
This.
His Ability is basically like glorified anxiety. What if something is coming to hurt him? If something can hurt him? What if that tree falls while he's under it? And the ideas come so hard they hurt (although yes, it does detect ill intent and that's what sets it off)
He talks weirdly. Formal? Old-fashioned? Listening to him speak Japanese compared to others, it just sounds a bit different. (Translated subs don't show it very well, it's the voice itself methinks)
"This too, is destiny." *about Midoriya having OFA*
Kinda wise or sage-y. He did spend his life in solitude in the forests so he definitely spent a lot of time with his own thoughts. Maybe he found the meaning of life in a centipede or something one day
For someone so cute, he is also such. A fine. Specimen???
Look at those back muscles, dang.
LOOK AT HIS CALVES AND ARMS DANG.
38 notes
·
View notes
I think we need to consider the body horror potential with this new plot development
(click images for higher quality)
Image description under the cut
[ID: three digital illustrations of Raine Whispers from The Owl House. Raine is in puppet form and is also possessed by Belos. The first drawing is of them from the shoulders up, there is a large sweep of dark green goop going across their face, covering their left eye. Said left eye is completely black except for the iris/pupil which is a glowing bright blue color. Raine also has dark green antlers and their hair is significantly longer, resembling a mullet. They have an angry/unhinged expression and the left side of their mouth extends further out into their face and gapes open, reminiscent of a skeleton or corpse. The part of their mouth that is open is emitting a cyan colored glow. The next drawing is a full body shot of possessed puppet Raine. Their face/head is as described. Their body is outstreched and much taller than normal, their arms and legs are unnaturally long and are made of the same dark green goop as their antlers, which is dripping off their body. They stand with a hunched over posture. In the third and final drawing, possessed puppet Raine is hunched over on the floor, gripping their head with their hands. Four large, blue, glowing eyeballs are sprouting out from their back and sides. The final image has all three drawings next to eachother with reference pictures of possessed puppet Raine, puppet Raine, Raine in their normal state, Belos in his goopy monstrous form, and Hunter when he was also possessed by Belos. End ID]
151 notes
·
View notes
Oooh, so this is my first time restarting completely since some of the patches/hotfixes- and I saw a video of this scene being in EA, but never saw it in the final game until now. It's uh.... bugged to fuck, cause the camera for convo/cutscenes like can't decide if gale turned around to face you or not, so something he acts like he's talking to your face while you're like **hovering behind him** and sometimes he talks over his shoulder.
But god I like this scene a lot and like between this and the "go to hell" one, I really like that uh it feels like we're setting up a *go to camp, talk to gale, everyone is like ohhhh I heard you talking to gale*
Also, Astarion questioning me on how I'd prefer to be murdered if I turn- beautiful. He very eager to stop my "pretty little heart" but definitely totally only if he has to.
24 notes
·
View notes