Engineering in Art: Induction Used to Melt 400 lbs of Steel Daily in Tribute to Caravaggio #ArtTuesday

Arcangelo Sassolino’s Diplomazija Astuta uses induction to liquify 400 pounds of steel daily, in a reference to a painting by the chiaroscuro master Caravaggio. Here’s more from ArtNet News:

“Induction is really magic,” Sassolino told Artnet News. “Through a magnetic field, it can turn steel from [room temperature] to 1500 degrees Celsius [2732 degrees Fahrenheit], which is the point which steel melts…When steel is melted, the energy is transformed into light,” Sassolino said. “There is darkness and then a moment of light, and then the return of darkness.”

A large metal armature stands inside the pavilion, concealing a computer-programmed system that feeds steel coils into the induction machine. The installation is inspired by Caravaggio’s altarpiece, The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (1608), at St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and reflects the artist’s famed mastery of dramatic lighting.

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