Magion is a large moiré object: two layered surfaces that read as a single field of waves. As you move past it, the overlapping geometries slip against each other and the whole surface seems to ripple — though nothing actually moves. A static object that behaves like a wave, and a study in how motion can be a trick of perception.
Magion
A geometric object, evoking the motion of wave interference.
A Tribute to Geophysics and the Ionosphere
The piece is named for RNDr. Jiří Mrázek, a Czech geophysicist whose work centred on geomagnetism and the upper atmosphere, and whose research fed the Czechoslovak Magion satellite programme. The moiré field nods to the invisible forces he studied — magnetic waves and the dynamics of the ionosphere, made just visible enough to catch the eye.
Constructing the Illusion
The illusion comes from two plates with identical curved geometry. The rear panel is fixed to the wall; the front one hangs from the ceiling on spacer rods, offset by a few centimetres. Both are matte white against a black ground, so the eye reads only the interference between them. Tuning that curved geometry was the whole job — the effect lives or dies on millimetres.
