Ernie Button
Biography
“For over 35 years, Phoenix, Arizona, has been my home. For much of my adult life, photography has provided me a forum to communicate my past and present, my humor and concerns, and my observations and explorations. It has undeniably changed the way I see the world; how I look at individuals, places, or objects. Although my subject matter varies, my images focus on the individual nature of objects (and occasionally people) and the unique qualities that each possesses. My images often provide a voice to objects that are ignored and are frequently overlooked or taken for granted.”
Artist Statement
“I feel fortunate that I stumbled onto this phenomenon. I am a fan of observing my world and the things that are happening around me; noticing the smaller details that may be ignored or overlooked. The idea for this project occurred while putting a used Scotch glass into the dishwasher. I noted a film on the bottom of a glass and when I inspected closer, I noted these fine, lacy lines filling the bottom. What I found through some experimentation is that these patterns and images that are seen can be created with the small amount of Single-Malt Scotch whisky left in a glass after most of it has been consumed. It takes between two and four drops of whisky to create these patterns. If I can see the amber color of the Scotch, I’ve left too much. The alcohol dries and leaves the sediment in various patterns.
It’s a little like snowflakes in that every time the Scotch dries, the glass yields slightly different patterns and results. Different color lights have been used to illuminate the bottom of the glass, creating the illusion of landscape, terrestrial or extraterrestrial. Some of the images reference the celestial, as if the image was taken of space; something that the Hubble telescope may have taken.The circular image references a drinking glass, typically a circle, and what the consumer might see if they were to look at the bottom of the glass after the whisky has dried. The images were titled with the specific Scotch brand that the rings were created with but the number is a 3 digit number that has nothing to do with the age of the scotch. Merely a number to help differentiate between images.”
This project is supported by Dr. Howard A. Stone, the head researcher at Princeton University’s Complex Fluids Group, and is submitted as a research manuscript to a scientific journal and is recently published. To read a synopsis of this research, click here.