Last Saturday we held an extravaganza of materials and making around the theme of light. You could make your very own electrical circuit to power an LED with Codasign, discover how reflective materials do their thing, and explore the magic of invisibility. Participants were taking pictures without a camera with light artist Angela Easterling, using only light sensitive paper and the sun. We painted yellow road markings all along Malet Place and tested how the small glass balls in them reflect and catch our eyes, in much the same way as cat's eyes, which were also on hand to deconstruct. In our wondrous Materials Library you could discover phosphorescent living organisms and see how, under UV light, tonic water fluoresces, sun cream turns black and diamonds glow. Visitors also discovered our ongoing research project Light.Touch.Matters, which brings together designers and materials scientists from all over Europe to develop a new generation of flexible materials that respond to touch with light.
The street outside the Institute of Making came alive with a range of activities from UCL researchers. There was a chance to partake in a world record breaking attempt to create the world’s largest cyanotype print, which was achieved. We discovered how light became the power behind the internet and explored a 21st-century cabinet of curiosities from UCL Museums. Finally, visitors got a chance to step inside a camera obscura and visit a bicycle trailer photography darkroom.
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