When I first created this site in 2021, it was intended as a place to share photographs of funga [one of my favorite “mutable objects” to observe], but the project became stale.

In its current iteration, mutable object studio & space [MOSS] is a place for me to think out loud and share things I hope someone else out there might find interesting or helpful :~) it’s a jumble of unorganized thoughts, experiences, resources, miscellaneous media & more presented in a non chronological order.

I’m prioritizing work on an Accessibility mode, and things will be in flux here!

No MOSS pictured here [well, probably under all those ferns] ~ a sweet scene, one of my favorite palettes by mother earth: purple aster and rusty autumn ferns mingling in Maine, September 2023.

Lately

Listening	Reading
Birds [Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Downy Woodpeckers] On Repeat Konpa Joint – Rhamier [Bandcamp] ~ please consider purchasing this track or album to support the artist! New Year – The Breeders Water Song – Bby Eco [Bandcamp] Chelou – Halfway to Nowhere [Bandcamp] \| Music Video with art by Polly Nor	Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty ~ a collection of short stories about Penobscot people [free digital library rental via OverDrive] The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century, Olga Ravn ~ not your average workplace novel [free digital library rental via OverDrive ]

Field studies

I’ve been mesmerized by the patterns etched in sand after a falling tide (or combo of wind)- all the sands in this post were observed on the 2024 Winter Solstice (12/21/24) on a freezing day with biting winds.

These patterns are known as “bedforms” in geology, and are the result of wind or water currents (or both).

Differing directions of wind and water, grain size, etc. can result in complex formations and variations. Dunes are a type of bedform on a larger scale.

Fossilized bedforms can lend clues to weather and environmental conditions at the time of creation- more on that here.

The physics and technical details on how these patterns form is way over my head- many scientific papers can be found online if you’d like to dive in- I’ve included additional resources at the end of this section.

This GeologyIsTheWay.com post has the most accessible (to me) writeup on bedforms and the dynamics of their formation.

Have you noticed these patterns? Do the shapes remind you of anything else in the natural (or “unnatural”) world?

Some patterns are dendritic, branching out and out. Bed forms can be mathematically modeled, which is discussed here by J.M. Pacheco.

I think visualizing some of these patterns would make for a fun & challenging p5.js project.

Is this swirly whorly marbling considered a bedform? The marbling indicates sorting of the sand grains, settling horizontally and smoothly on the surface, rather than ridges. I assume some mix of silt/something lighter in weight than sand. And I think these patterns can be affected by water oozing upward toward the surface? I’d like to learn more about this marbling pattern~

Additional Reading

On the prediction of the characteristics of sand ripples at the bottom of sea waves

The Origin and Growth of Ripple-Mark

Beach sand ripples can be fingerprints for ancient weather conditions

How to read a North Carolina beach : bubble holes, barking sands, and rippled runnels

Aeolian sand sorting and megaripple formation [full text behind a paywall unfortunately]

Blown by wind: nonlinear dynamics of aeolian sand ripples [full text behind a paywall unfortunately]

made it this far? I appreciate you being here! let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts or suggestions.