Quantum Jungle

Photography George Torode

Robin Baumgarten, Quantum Jungle, 2023

Artist, designer and engineer Robin Baumgarten had the idea of using springs as triggers for this light display when watching his cat playing with a doorstop. He made Quantum Jungle to spark curiosity and wonder through play. 

In the quantum realm, everything that happens depends on everything else that could possibly happen. This range of possible outcomes happening at the same time is called quantum superposition. The mystery of quantum science is that when you observe them, things stop behaving in a quantum way. 

You can touch the springs to simulate a quantum particle in superposition. At first, the particle occupies multiple possible positions, which appear as a colourful expanding cloud. To 'observe' the particle, touch another spring and a single position is confirmed. 

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Robin Baumgarten is an award-winning experimental hardware game developer and interactive installation artist based in Berlin. After researching Artificial Intelligence in Games and working on mobile games, he is now fully focused on creating playful interactive installations that straddle the divide of games and art, such as Line Wobbler and Wobble Garden. His most recent projects also involve a scientific aspect: Quantum Garden and its larger sequel, Quantum Jungle, both visualise quantum physics in a playful yet scientifically accurate manner.