Laser Reflection & Refraction

CREATION AND PRODUCTION

NEGOTIATED BRIEF

Steve Payne
BA Art & Design
2023
 Project Proposal for Negotiated Brief

For my project I am considering combining one of my current interests i.e. laser pens, my
main area of interest which is photography and a new skill which I will hopefully be getting
to grips with very shortly, plaster work.

I currently have a number of laser pens which I have been experimenting with and which
have convinced me that I need to purchase some slightly better quality units. My initial
trials with these laser pens led me to design and produce a basic pen holder so that I could
handle them easier and still be able to draw with them.
With the holding baracket I was able to experiment a little more with pen control and
produced a couple of examples or parallel light painting.

g. At first I thought my interest in the laser would follow the path of light painting but then
by continually trying ideas, I attempted to fire the laser through the bottom of a green wine-
bottle which caused the laser light to refract and produced some interesting results.
My plan and expectation for this project will be to construct a cavernous plaster and mesh
cave-like structure with various internal partitions which would provide a framework to hold
and support a number of small mirrors and the cut off bottoms of coloured wine,sherry,port
bottles etc with a punt in the end which will serve to refract the laser beam causing effects
similar to those shown above.

30mm dia round mirrors

It is my intention to then photograph the refracted images both projected onto a sheet of
card and/or using a smoke or fog source to show the laser beam being reflected and
refracted in mid air. This reflection and refraction due to particles in the air will vary
according to the strength of the laser source.
The above diagram is a theoretical example of how the plaster and wire mesh cave like structure may
be produced. There is no right or wrong way for this but a lot will depend on ensuring access for my
hands etc to enable the moving of, and addition to, the small mirrors and laser pen set.

It is expected that the inner surface of the structure will be painted in a matt black to avoid any
unplanned reflections. There may also be a need for much greater mirror coverage of the inside
which may or may not be achieved by adding more small circular mirrors or, possibly some other
means. This would allow for more lasers to be used and possibly even a portable laser ‘disco’ unit.