powers of ten
pulling back, zooming in
Hi you,
I didn’t know what to write this month. Then I found a draft with “Power of Tens” and the words “Y’all seen this shit?”1 So, here we are and I can’t think of better imagery to leave you with for the year.
Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of Things in the Universe
Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of Things in the Universe is a 1977 short film directed by industrial designers Ray and Charles Eames (yes, the same “Eames” behind the Eames Chair). The film explores scale, pulling back to explore the scale of the universe before putting the thing down, flipping, and reversing to show the scale of the human body.
The concept is simple: an aerial shot of a man lying on a picnic blanket along Lake Michigan in Chicago. The shot is 1 meter wide viewed from 1 meter away.
Every ten seconds, the camera pulls back to view the scene from 10 times farther away, the field of view becoming 10 times wider. At one minute along the journey, we can see the Earth (seven powers of ten). Another minute out and we have escaped our solar system (14 powers of ten). Another minute out and we see the flat disc of the Milky Way galaxy (21 powers of ten). We end at the (then) limit of our vision, a shot that is mainly black but for several white specks of distant galaxies. The narrator tells us that this emptiness is normal, that “the richness of our own neighborhood is the exception.” The shot is 100 million light years or 24 powers of ten.
Then we rapidly return, zooming back into the man on the lakeside, slowing our descent to explore the skin of his hand. Here, we reduce the distance by 90 percent every ten seconds. At one centimeter, we view the rivulets that make up the surface of the hand (minus 2 powers of ten). At one micron, we have reached the coils of the DNA (minus 6 powers of ten). At 100 ångstroms2 things get really interesting and we can view the vibration of the atomic scale of which we’re all composed (minus 8 powers of ten). We reach the center of ourselves, the carbon nucleus made up of six protons and six neutrons at 0.0001 ångstrom (minus 14 powers of ten). The film ends at 0.00001 ångstrom, zoomed into a single proton or quark, the smallest known particle of the universe (minus 16 powers of ten). This is the edge of our understanding.
If you’re still with me, thank you and I’m sorry to put numbers and chemistry in your inbox. No joke, math makes me dissociate and I barely made my way through these subjects in grade school. Come at me in the comments if I described the numbers incorrectly. 💁🏾♀️
That aside. I don’t want to crowd your inbox with a pseudo-intellectual end-of-year message. One of my intentions for the next year is less self-analysis (see: here) so I have nothing to say at the moment about closing out the year or resolutions and I’m not going to recommend that you make a list of any sort.
I do, however, want to remind you of the scale of our relationships and the interdependence of all things. Within the interiority of our bodies exists the same material as the edge of the universe. We are all composed of this basic substance that is vibrating / quivering deep within our skin. The universe is constantly vibrating and so are we. In physics, there is a thing called resonance3, or the phenomenon that occurs when objects vibrating at different frequencies absorb each other’s energy to equalize, coming toward a matching, natural frequency. Yes, this is science, but we may also call this the experience of oneness, interdependence, or Buddha-nature.
Imagine a world in which we encounter all our relationships with this understanding at the front of our mind? Admittedly, I am not always operating on this level.
But I can imagine a Self that moves through their ecosystem in this way: Making eye contact at the bodega, in the subway car, on the street. Holding spiritual care at the center of all of our relationships, regardless of their length, depth or perceived importance. There is no rush to wash the soil from underneath our fingernails. We breathe in deeply in the middle of the action, reminding ourselves to feel our feet on the ground, present in the moment. We commune with the spirit, God-consciousness, Buddha, within ourselves.
Groovy. 🌀
Watch Powers of Ten below. Hit me up with your thoughts. 👇
xo Jessica
*
I have 126 tabs open on my phone and I’m determined to clear them out before the new year. Here is a smattering.
This picture of wrinkled aluminum foil with a portion—equally wrinkled—coated in Vantablack, “the darkest material in the world.” The material is so dark it makes the crinkled aluminum foil appear flat.
A photo of wrinkled aluminum foil with a portion in the center—equally wrinkled—coated in Vantablack. Now defunct hippy, art schools like Black Mountain College, which was located outside of Asheville, based on John Dewey’s principles of art as integral to public life.
Jen highly recommended I see the Judy Chicago show at the New Museum before it closes. Have you seen it?
This NY Times profile of SZA from earlier this year where she talks about gymnastics, sad-girl energy and standing on the edge.
A posed photograph of SZA wearing a color-block dress in front of a neutral backdrop. Migration, immigration and urbanism in “Acts of Remembering” by Betty Yu, part of the e-flux project, Survivance.
Trailers for Tokyo Pop, Barbarian, and Happy as Lazarro.
The Texas Poppy Fields of West Texas aka Castner Range became a national monument this year. The land is currently being remediated because it is a former weapons testing range full of unexploded munitions.
The top third of the photo has clouds and a blue sky. To the left of the frame, halfway down, are mountains. In the bottom third is a field of golden Mexican poppies in bloom. Did you know that New York has a native cactus? It’s the Eastern Prickly Pear. Wild, I know.
Now down to 102 tabs! Lastly, here are all of the books I read in 2023. 📚
Work with me.
You can find me weekly at Heal Haus, five days a week at Arena and often at 462 Halsey Community Farm.
🌞
See also: If You High
An ångstroms?! 🥴
Resonance is the word I most frequently use to describe the feeling immediately following my chanting practice. I can feel the vibration within my soma. Where/when do you feel resonance?
“Making eye contact at the bodega, in the subway car, on the street. Holding spiritual care at the center of all of our relationships, regardless of their length, depth or perceived importance. There is no rush to wash the soil from underneath our fingernails.” 👀🌱
I have 21 tabs... some of them have come from you ;-) thank you!