Turbulences

Originally, the word turbulence designated “the restless movement of a crowd”. Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to take a close interest in this phenomenon and to apply to it the Italian world “torbolenza”. He observed and illustrated with particular acuity the moment of transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow, which generates swirls, curls, spirals and other constantly evolving random patterns. Unlike other states of matter characterized as “stable or balanced”, turbulent processes are highly volatile, irreversible and, above all, unpredictable.

Today, with the help of new technologies or rudimentary techniques, virtual images or traditional line drawings, artists from different horizons are exploring the multiple aesthetic and philosophical possibilities of the notion of turbulence. They have also developed various systems of graphic, pictorial or sculptural notation enabling them to “chart” these spontaneous and disconcerting movements of matter.