A Role for Holography in Decorative Architectural Glass

ABSTRACTS tration of masks, etc., simple and reliable . I had previously been making holograms with 'standard' transmission recording techniques. Dave Warren, an Australian holographer who was visiting the Royal College, introduced me to in-line holograms. In combination with the kinds of models I was using, this technique seemed to offer me a good chance ofgetting the sort of results for which I was looking. For Waveforms I used a model that consisted of the following parts: (1) a paper and acetate mask that related to water and music patterns (waveforms ); (2) a model constructed of glass and mirrors, whose design source was sound, in particular, music (the model itself being derived from the intersection of two diagrammatic representations of harmonics); and (3) two sets of related masks-one to record the vertical diffraction, the other, the horizontal. The sets of masks used for the vertical and horizontal diffractions were based on a simple idea of music rhythms and notation and can be regarded as a primitive equivalent of counterpoint. In some places the masks overlapped, and in others they resulted in the double exposure ofthe hologram. (At a later time the unexposed areas ofthe emulsion were sandFig . 1. Jean Bailey, Wavefonns: A Maquette for a Holographic Wall, in-line transmission holograms , 10 x 32 in (scale 1:8), 1987-1988 (unfinished), . was music. I used an imaginary architectural brief for the design and production of a maquette for a holographic wall in a reception area in a concert hall. Opposite the wall were wide stairways from above and below; in the end walls were doors, perhaps leading to the concert hall itself. The objective was to design a wall of holographic glass in which the imagery would be visible whether one approached from above or below or from either side. I was also interested to see what could be done to create unobtrusive lighting for what would be (at full size) a large area of holographic imagery. The size of the maquette was 10 x 32 in, the scale being 1:8. As a matter of convenience, the piece was made up as four 100x-8-in holograms. These were made with a 10:J ruby laser, without a diffusing screen, using in-line recording geometry. (I considered, but did not pursue, the possible transfer of in-line holograms.) The advantages of being able to use a pulse laser for this work included the speed and reliability of recording; ample coherence length, which the model required; the ability to work with a non-stable model; and the option to shoot the hologram flat on a table (made possible by the use of the high overhead reference beam). This made the regisJean Bailey, 1 South Street, Great Waltham, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 IDF, United Kingdom. Received 4 Felmtary 1991. My active involvement in holography dates from the summer of 1983, when I saw the exhibition Light Dimensions in Bath, England. The real starting point was probably seeing Margaret Benyon's BlackRainbowsomewhat earlier . I had been aware of holography since the early 1970s, when I was working in audiovisual production; however , I could see no way of using it to teach people to fill in forms. For me the memorable works in Light Dimensions were Stephen Benton's Crystal Beginningand some pieces by Douglas Tyler, which, to a student ofarchitectural stained glass (as I then was), looked like windows. From that moment on, there was no question of how to use holography. As a student of glass, I was already using both reflective and light-transmitting glass to 'play with the light' in an architectural context [1]. Thus, from the beginning, I was working with glass 'models', to which I then added scraps of embossed holograms. So my first practical experience of holograms was concerned with the application rather than the making. With encouragement from the electronics department at my college, I was able to make my first dim hologram . Where to go next? A one-day workshop in 1984 at the Royal College ofArt in London led to my acceptance the following year as a full-time student in the new Holography Unit. Trained in the disciplines of a craft that...