Elliot McGucken's Spacetime Light Cone Sculptures

Physicist and photographer Dr. Elliot McGucken brings cosmology down to earth in Spacetime Light Cone Sculptures dx4/dt=ic, a series of long-exposure photographs made across dramatic desert and coastal landscapes.

A double cone of blue light suspended over a nighttime desert road in a photograph by Dr. Elliot McGucken — All images © Dr. Elliot McGucken, shared with permission via Colossal.

Using drones, light painting, and long exposure, McGucken traces hourglass-like forms inspired by Einstein's light cone: a way of visualizing the relationship between space, time, and the speed of light.

Light cone sculpture photograph by Dr. Elliot McGucken 1

Light cone sculpture photograph by Dr. Elliot McGucken 2

Physics in the Landscape

The photographs place glowing spirals above remote locations including the Trona Pinnacles and the Alabama Hills, turning the landscape into both a studio and a diagram. The result sits somewhere between scientific model, earthwork, and nocturnal apparition.

Light cone sculpture photograph by Dr. Elliot McGucken 3

See more on McGucken's website and Instagram. Source: Colossal.

Elliot McGucken's Spacetime Light Cone Sculptures

Physics in the Landscape

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