Reza Ali

Design Researcher
Ex-Nokia Research, Ex-MAT@UCSB GRAD, Ex-RPI GRAD
Palo Alto, CA

Fields are an important concept to understand in generative art and design, they are the things that can control compositions and create natural pattern formation. In my work, particle movements are defined by either per-particle interactions and/or a field's affect on a particle in space. The images were generated by a real-time particle simulation of 5000 charged particles interacting with magnetic fields. The fundamental theory used to derive their motion is Lorentz Law. In physics, Lorentz Force defines how a charged particle (point charge) is affected by an electromagnetic field. Lorentz Law states that the force on a changed particle or point charge is equal to the charge of the particle times the electric field which it is placed in, plus its charge times its velocity crossed with the magnetic field present. If there is more than one magnetic field, this equation can be solved for each magnetic field and summed to get the total resultant force. One thing to keep in mind is that these equations yield a vector force (i.e.. 3D), hence these are 3D renderings. These images were generated solely using the latter half of the equation that just uses the magnetic field.

Magneto-2
Magneto-2
18" by 24"
Print
2011

This image is a snap-shot from a real-time interactive particle simulation using Lorentz's Law to define each particle's movements. The color palette, perspective, magnetic field placement, and rendering style were designed by the artist. Physics and mathematics define the piece's motion and overall pattern formation.

Magneto-1
Magneto-1
18" by 24"
Print
2011

This image is a snap-shot from a real-time interactive particle simulation using Lorentz's Law to define each particle's movements. The color palette, perspective, magnetic field placement, and rendering style were designed by the artist. Physics and mathematics define the piece's motion and overall pattern formation.