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Sculpting… air
Aerogels are remarkable materials with unprecedented physical properties that
fascinate researchers and space engineers. They have incredible insulating
properties with regard to thermal, electrical
and acoustic energy transfers. After being used by NASA in various space
experiments to capture cosmic dust, aerogels became, for the first time, the object
of sculptural research. Dr. Iannis MICHALOU(di)S, Research Affiliate at the Center
for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT tells us the story.
SG: How long does it take to materialize…the immaterial aerogel sculpture? MICHALOU(di)S : The first time I saw the cloudy and dreamy Silica aerogel, I was working also on the theater project (Nob)Odyssey, so I started seriously to work on the aer( )sculptures in the middle of January 2002, when I found a photo of Dr.Peter Tsou at NASA's J.P.L with a cube of Silica Aerogel. I had also a contact with Dr.Arlon Hunt at Berkeley Lab who gave me the name of Dr. Larry Hrubesh at L.L.L and through him I found Dr. Michael Droege at "Ocellus Technologies" in Livermore CA. I visited him at the end of May 2002. After our meeting and receiving the info I needed for the casting of Silica, I returned to Europe, where, in Paris and Athens, I produced the molds for the first aer( )sculpture. The molds were sent to California, and in September I traveled there for the second time in order to work on the last details of the first Silica Aerogel sculpture ever made! SG: As far as we know this is, indeed, the first attempt to use aerogels in art. Did you already exhibit some of your realizations? MICHALOU(di)S : The 15th of October, at the "Sky Art Conference 2002" I exposed and presented the first aer( )sculpture "-Icare I care..." at the European Cultural Center of Delphi in Greece. Scientists and Artists were surprised by the originality and the visual qualities of this work. SG: Have you have frozen the blue sky by using aerogels? Did you finally obtain your goal? MICHALOU(di)S : The objective of this project is to have these lightweight sculptures hanging in the air with the help of magnetic fields. Imagine an “Aphrodite” out of Aerogel free of its pedestal, suspended in the air… Concerning its color, it's blue for the same reasons that sky is blue, so if you keep a piece of native silica in your hand, is like you have a piece of sky between your fingers!… Nevertheless, when this diaphanous cyan is placed on the same line between your eye and the light, then a complementary orange color replaces the color of the sky, as Icarus it has also an orange-gold substance… Its’ sky now, is a sunset sky… 1cf. Arthur Miller, Einstein-Picasso: Space,Time and the Beauty that causes Havoc, (2001), transl. in Greek S.Pierris, edit.P.Travlos, Athens 2002, pp.175-234.
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(nephele) means "cloud", and the objective of this
project is to realize what seems unrealistic and crazy: a cubic cloud, a cloud
which is delimited in space by six square immaterial planes. 
Ecole
Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (Arts Decos) in Paris, and
a Master of Visual Arts from the University of Paris I (Sorbonne). He received
his Ph.D. in Visual Arts in 1998 from the same University. Michalous is
currently a Research Affiliate at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT.
His research (Nephele)3 focuses on the creation of immaterial, ethereal works of
arts using the sculptural media of controlled steam and aerogels. This research
is funded by the IKY Foundation, the William Fulbright Foundation, the Associate
Provost for the Arts at MIT, the Council for the Arts at MIT and the Center for
Advanced Visual Studies.