Liquid experiments show how beautiful things can happen when chemicals meet

For the ABC Science series Phenomena, the Australian artist and filmmaker Josef Gatti collaborated with the Australian composer Kim Moyes for an amalgamation of art and science exploring ‘naturally occurring patterns, and the fundamental forces of nature that create them’. In this energy-themed entry, Gatti uses high-resolution cameras to capture how dormant potential energy awakens when chemicals meet by combining oils, alcohols and inks in Petri dishes. Via the dazzling, colourful patterns that emerge, Gatti draws a line back to the surface of the Sun, where the constant churn of a volatile chemical reaction makes life on Earth possible.