Jul 9, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: Here's How to Draw With 400,000 Volts of Electricity

Luke Evans
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Luke Evans' *Xero* series visualizes electricity.
Luke Evans
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To make them, Evan deconstructs the xerography process, which is used in machines like laser printers and photocopiers.

Luke Evans
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Some look like irises.
Luke Evans
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Others look like snakes.

Luke Evans
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To start, Evans uses a high-voltage Van Der Graaf generator, to zap a piece of acrylic with 400,000 volts of electricity.
Luke Evans
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This leaves a static discharge on the acrylic---the same fuzzy feel you get from running your hand over the top of an old TV.

Luke Evans
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From there, Evans sprinkles toner powder on the acrylic and presses a sheet of paper against it. He uses an iron to heat seal the image on the page.
Luke Evans
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The shape is determined by variables like humidity and the shape of electrode used to zap the acrylic. This was made with a metal ball.

Luke Evans
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They look cool, sure. But Evans says every piece comes with a price: lots of shocks.

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