Chladni Rebuild

Daniel Lara (Mexico)

How can we “see” sound waves?

While he was an artist in residence at the Art, Science and Technology Laboratory of Tecnologico de Monterrey, Daniel Lara experimented with the ‘Chladni plates’. It consists of placing a granular substance on a metal plate that is fixed in the centre. When subjected to vibrations, the substance forms characteristic patterns known as “Chladni figures”. 

The vibrations on the plates produce standing waves, which have the peculiarity of having areas of zero vibration (nodes) and areas of maximum vibration amplitude. When the plate vibrates, the salt displaces by gravitational action to the zero vibration zones, which makes it possible to visualise the nodes. Different sound frequencies induce different vibration modes, so the patterns on the plate take different shapes, such as straight lines, circles, squares, and rings.

Through photography, the artist studied the formation of these patterns and created sculptural figures through 3D modelling software.

Daniel Lara Ballesteros is an interdisciplinary artist and sound researcher based in Mexico City. He studied Visual Arts at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and is currently engaged in artistic production and research based on physical and perceptual phenomena around sound.