Mechanics/Dynamics/Motion

Braided Stream

This artwork features air bubbling up through a fine powder constrained between two glass plates tilted at a 45 degree angle. The tilting creates a continually changing landscape evocative of aerial photographs of river drainage networks on Earth and on Mars. As air is pumped into the powder, it carves small streams. After the initial currents of rising air have carved channels in the powder, subsequent streams follow the paths of least resistance, further deepening and elaborating the drainage network.