I attempted to recreate the results of Eddington’s total solar eclipse experiment. Eddington’s experiment used a solar eclipse to see if the stars had displaced or not. If they had moved, this would prove Einstein’s theory correct, which would replace the Newtonian way of thinking. If they did not move, like Einstein predicted, then Newton’s theory would still be correct. I used black and white paint to recreate the magnified results and then I put it in a yellow folder. Depending on what side you open the folder; it would either prove Newton or Einstein correct. The art piece was inspired by the movie, Einstein and Eddington. It relates to the theory of relativity because its results either prove or disprove its validity.

Furthermore, I think it would be interesting to look at this experiment from the perspective of quantum mechanics. In the movie, there is a moment before Eddington looks into the microscope, which could be interpreted as a quantum event. Thus, in quantum mechanics, both Einstein and Newton are simultaneously correct in that moment. By looking into the microscope, Eddington collapsed the wave function. This relates to my art work because on one side, Einstein’s results are reproduced and on another side, Newton’s results are reproduced. Before viewing the artwork, both theorists are correct, and depending on what side you open the folder, you are collapsing the wave function. It kind of makes you wonder if there is another parallel world where Newton turned out to be correct and what those implications would be. What would happen if Einstein had been wrong? How would Einstein’s failure affect other concepts in science, such as quantum mechanics, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, etc? How would it affect different fields such as visual artwork if Einstein had been wrong?