Ori Gersht

[karenoliver]

Thought I would share some of his work. I really love some of the ideas he comes up with and would love to try some of the liquid explosions! He freezes flowers in liquid nitrogen then blows them up, photographing the effects. Has anyone tried anything similar, where would you buy this stuff from anyway?

His work is here:

http://www.nogagallery.com/artists/gersht.html


Karen

[AndyStevens]

Not had a chance to look at the images yet Karen, but you dont really want to mess with liquid nitrogen - it's something like -196 degC and you certainly dont want to spill any. I remember A-Level Physics and the teacher spilling a small amount on the table - which promptly split!

You could probably buy it from any serious pharmaceutical outlet - wholesale that is - but I would imagine it's controlled/licensed in some way...

Cheers
Andy

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by AndyStevens

Not had a chance to look at the images yet Karen, but you dont really want to mess with liquid nitrogen - it's something like -196 degC and you certainly dont want to spill any. I remember A-Level Physics and the teacher spilling a small amount on the table - which promptly split!

You could probably buy it from any serious pharmaceutical outlet - wholesale that is - but I would imagine it's controlled/licensed in some way...

Actually, its not that dangerous, if you know what you're doing. I use it on a nearly daily basis. You'd have to have either a lot of LN2 or a damage table to split it. You can (carefully and slowly) pour some into your hand and hold it - it boils so quickly that you don't harm yourself. Again, its worth stating that you need to know what you're doing with it though...

It's not actually a regulated product either, at least not to buy. You have to be licensed to sell it and most places that do, won't sell it to individuals that don't have an obvious need for it.
From a professional perspective, LN2 is covered under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations as well as the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations.

The bigeest problem with it is actually storing it. It "lives" at between -196 and -204(ish) degrees Celsius (it boils at -196 so, to remain liquid, it has to be colder than that) and it's a bloomin' nightmare without proper dewars. I know people look like they use Thermos flasks - they don't they're special dewars. Pour some in a Thermos and you'll shatter the inner glass.


Also.. great pictures. I'm geniunely impressed with these!

[karenoliver]

I agree about not knowing what you're doing by messing with these substances, Andy. Presumably he photographed in controlled conditions somewhere. Its something I would like to try though, but with other items other than flowers.

Chris, interesting what you say about being able to hold it. I guess the storage would be difficult, maybe he did all his photographing in a lab.

It shows though that with imagination and some thinking outside of the box you can come up with some amazing shots.

Karen

[AndyStevens]

That's interesting Chris. Tell you what, you hold it, I'll photograph it

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by AndyStevens

That's interesting Chris. Tell you what, you hold it, I'll photograph it

I'm pretty sure the" incredible exploding man" shot would win next years poty! :-)

Certainly interesting shots. I can remember seeing a GoKart run on liquid nitrogen at UEA, as they were trying to develop an engine that could work for longer durations utilising the energy properties of nitrogen as an alternative fuel. I can still visualise the light frosting on the engine's vanes.

[Matthew Forrest]

Yeah pretty cool shots,id love to be able to create something like that.Not too sure about handling the nitrogen though.......

[Morph]

Good link and gives me a few ideas to try. Instead of trying to get hold off and use liquid nitrogen, I might try one of the cans of freezer spray for repairing broken water pipes which is available from the plumbing section in most major DIY shops for about £8 a can!! It might work well enough to freeze a flower or two?

[karenoliver]

Great idea, hope it works. Remember to post some pics if it does :-)

Karen