Magnetic Movie
A Film Installation by Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt)
Continues Through May 31, 2009
In the Seeing Gallery

In this looping installation, the British filmmaking duo known as Semiconductor reveals the chaotic geometries of hidden magnetic fields in and around NASA’s Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley. Magnetic Movie (2007, 4 min. 56 sec.), a Semiconductor film by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, is on continuous view in the Exploratorium’s Seeing Gallery now through May 31, 2009. Filmed as the artists tried to come to grips with the science they explored, Magnetic Movie originates with magnetic fields in relation to the Sun, Earth and Mars, and the techniques space scientists use to visualize them. As scientists describe their discoveries, vivid animations of magnetic fields undulate and pop to sounds of electromagnetic signals from the Earth’s ionosphere and magnetosphere. After the filmmakers heard of hairy balls on the sun and dancing dots, as well as abstract forms and motion for which there were no metaphors, they devised their own imaginary interpretations of what was expressed to picture this world that exists beyond our sensory perceptions. The installation is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium.

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About the Artists
Since 1999, Semiconductor, comprising Ruth Jarman & Joseph Gerhardt, have exhibited, screened and performed digital animations that reveal our physical world in flux. Their work has been seen extensively, from Tate Britain and ICA London to the San Francisco International Film Festival, Transmediale Berlin and the Venice Biennale. Recent fellowships and residencies have supported site-specific work, including research and experimentation at the NASA Space Sciences Laboratories UC Berkeley, California. Semiconductor are based in Brighton UK.