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Hey i am by no means a scientist but i have a idea for a art work using smoke.

Basically what i want to know is whether it is possible to circulate smoke by means of a pump through a transparent box. If the box is completely sealed will the smoke disappear within time? When the smoke is pumped out and back in again, will it be have the same consistency as it had before it was circulated?

Thanks in advanced

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1 Answer 1

Antony Gormley did such an installation at the Hayward Gallery, called "Blind Light":

people walking around inside glass box full of fog

You can recirculate the dry ice or (in the above case) fog endlessly; but in the circuit you'll need a chiller, because the pump's action will steadily heat the gas. Antony Gormley used an ultrasonic humidifier in the circuit, to keep Blind Light constantly full of fog.

Being in it was a truly remarkable experience: visibility was less than one metre. And being outside it, watching the silhouettes materialise from nowhere and seeing them groping towards the glass wall was eerie too.

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In case of people entering that "box", carbon dioxide is out of sense. The danger that someone in the box will suffocate is much too high. (And evacuation is total nonsense) Any other kind of real smoke of course too. –  Georg Aug 2 '11 at 16:33
Thanks for this, might just be the thing to do the trick =] My box wont be big enough for anyone to enter into. I wanting do a range of similar works so they will either be put inside a frame and mounted onto a wall or be displayed as free standing sculptures –  salmon Aug 2 '11 at 16:43
@Georg - Antony Gormley used fog, as I wrote above. "fog" auf Deutsch: der Nebel. It's water vapour suspended in air (hence the humidifier that I mentioned). Thus, no suffocation. Thousands of people must have visited the exhibition, and none suffocated. –  EnergyNumbers Aug 2 '11 at 18:19
I know, my warning was directed to salmon, because I had recommended him to use carbondioxid ice. –  Georg Aug 2 '11 at 18:47

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