In order to understand the significance of my artwork, one must know a little background information on Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddignton. Albert Einstein was a German physicist, who developed the theory of relativity. He is considered the father of modern physics. He also contributed to the quantum theory. Albert Einstein was successful, due to the help of the astrophysicist, Arthur Eddignton. Arthur Eddignton stated that Einstein's theory of relativity was correct, for he had conducted an experiment to confirm Einstein's ideas. Eddignton proved Einstein's theory of the deflection of light, due to the sun's gravitational field. In today's society, Einstein's success is so great, that consequently, it diminished that of Arthur Eddington. Interestingly enough, it was Eddington's experimental proof that allowed Einstein's discoveries and explanations to be validated. Eddington realized that Mercury's orbit was not following Newton's laws. He wrote to Einstein about the orbit, and led Einstein in the right direction. These two scientists, allowed an audience to derive a great understanding of how science works, which was the inspiration for my artwork. There are numerous messages that allow new insights to be gained regarding scientific research and developments. Einstein and Eddington go through many obstacles and are distraught, before arriving at a conclusion. It was their perseverance and trails that allows an audience to gain new perspectives and new perceptions of science altogether.
One scene, in "Einstein and Eddignton" inspired my entire artwork. Arthur Eddington and three other people hold the edges of a tablecloth. Eddignton places a loaf of bread at the center and asks the others what they believe would occur if he placed a tangerine on the tablecloth as well. It was astonishing to see that the tangerine rotated around the loaf of bread. Eddington used the tablecloth to represent what occurs in space. The tangerine rotated around the bread, just as the planets rotate around the sun in space. This aspect also demonstrated the gravitational pull. Gravitational pull is related to the concept of why objects fall to the ground when we drop them. The sun's gravity pulls the planets; it exerts the strongest gravitational pull. This idea truly amazed me, therefore, I decided to replicate this image, yet instead of using food, I would depict the planets. Originally, I wanted to paint four people holding the tablecloth, yet the image would not look three-dimensional. Instead, I depicted two girls holding both edges of each side of the tablecloth. They are standing in a kitchen, just as Eddignton, yet there is one major difference. Instead of placing them onto a wooden floor, I decided to make the floor space. This is the most important aspect of my entire painting. It shows that one can represent the planets gravitational pull in space, by using a tablecloth. It also shows that the representation of the planets on the tablecloth with elliptical orbits, adequately defines what occurs in space. Therefore, since the image is exact, it is almost as though they are in space, hence the chosen floor.
It was important to use a variety of colors and shades in my painting. As Liberal Arts students, we constantly express ourselves through writing, yet never have the opportunity to portray our inner most ideas abstractly. The use of sparkles in space was to clearly differentiate from the ordinary kitchen and space. Science is something that is difficult to define, yet it is a part of our daily lives. On one of the very first assignments we did for this semester, we were told to come up with a metaphor for science. The first idea that popped into my mind was "since is air". This means, that science, like air, is everywhere. It surrounds every part of our daily lives. In addition, since like air, is essential to our lives. Without science today's society would completely different. We live in an age where scientists strive for new technological advancements and ideas.
In essence, my painting demonstrates the new cosmology, along with the notion that complex ideas may be expressed in simple environments. One does not have to be in a science laboratory, or in space to understand how science works. One may use knowledge and the ideas from past scientists to decipher their own understandings. Einstein and Eddignton had initial ideas of relativity and gravitational pull from the Newtonian ideas. Newtonian gravity was the idea that the orbit stays in fixed elliptical shape forever. In my painting, the solid lines show how this changes with relativity. Due to relativity, the orbits move over time, around the sun. Science is constantly changing and expanding, like the universe, and life all around us. This project was a great way to channel all scientific questions and express our own understanding. All the projects will be entirely different, for not only does science have many concepts, there are many ways to perceive them as well.



