The University of Glasgow’s pioneering research on light takes centre stage in a new documentary premiering at the prestigious International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (DOK Leipzig) on Monday 28 October..
A collaboration between Glasgow physicist Professor Daniele Faccio and the artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, also known as Semiconductor, is one of the storylines in Tracing Light, directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer.
The film explores the phenomenon of light, creating a dialogue between two disciplines – art and physics – that approach it in different ways.
Professor Faccio’s Extreme Light research group has developed a camera capable of operating at a trillion frames a second – fast enough to freeze light in motion. The film showcases Semiconductor’s efforts to use the technology to produce art that asks questions about the nature of light, and Professor Faccio’s work to help realise their ideas.
Professor Faccio with Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt (Photo credit: Tracing Light)
The Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC) is a frequent backdrop for discussions between Professor Faccio and Semiconductor. The University’s cloisters and Humanities Lecture Theatre are among the campus settings in which Semiconductor’s art-experiments take place during some of the film’s most striking scenes.
Professor Faccio, of the School of Physics & Astronomy, said: “I’ve collaborated with artists before, and it’s always a fascinating opportunity to think about my group’s research in a different context. In fact, the development of some of the ultrafast camera technology featured in the film is partly the result of a previous partnership with artist Lily Hibberd and our discussions about how light travels through space.
“Working with Semiconductor was a fantastic experience, and I think Tracing Light does a great job of representing the push and pull of our relationship, where we challenged each other to think about light in different ways and produce results that we wouldn’t have been able to create without each other.”
A scene from the documentary (Photo credit: Tracing Light)
Professor Sarah Cook of the School of Humanities is a curator with a long-standing relationship with Semiconductor. She helped establish the partnership between the artists and Professor Faccio and his team, and organised discussion days for university researchers and artists about art and science collaborations as part of the residency.
Professor Cook said: “This kind of cross-disciplinary working is a great example of the kind of collaborations which the ARC was built to foster. It’s wonderful to see Daniele and Semiconductor in ARC labs in the film, as well as working across the University campus.
“I’m delighted that the film has been selected to open DOK Leipzig. I hope that we’ll have the opportunity to screen it here in Glasgow some time next year, and for the film to find a wider audience in cinemas or on a streaming service in the future.”
Joe Gerhardt and Ruth Jarman of Semiconductor in the Humanities Lecture Theatre (Photo credit: Tracing Light)
Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt of Semiconductor said: “We have been really generously supported by Daniele and the Extreme Light research group, bringing to them our questions about what implications their experiments might have on how we experience the visible world.
“Daniele and the team gave us free rein to conduct our own experiments using their cutting edge light capturing technology, pushing the equipment to find the limits of its capabilities. Scientists, like artists, understand that experimentation is an essential part of increasing understanding, and like artists, are open to the possibility of having previously hard held beliefs upended.”
The 18-month collaboration between Professor Faccio and Semiconductor was supported by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)’s Impact Acceleration Account, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the University of Glasgow’s Knowledge Exchange Fund.
Tracing Light, a Filmpunkt and Sonja Henrici Creates production in association with Skyline Productions, co-produced by ZDF/3sat, supported by Screen Scotland National Lottery Fund also showcases research from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light at Erlangen and work from artists including Julie Brook, Johannes Brunner and Raimund Ritz.