FOG and CONTAMINATION
Fog
Fog has essentially the same properties as a cloud, only it occurs at ground level. It is made up of condensed water droplets and it occurs either by cooling the air to the dew point (variable) or by increasing humidity. Fog requires stable environmental conditions like humidity, light wind and cool air. These cause solid particles in the air (aerosols) not to disperse as water needs them in order to condense around them. Also, by definition and to distinguish it from mist, when fog is present visibility is reduced to 1Km.
Ground level does not mean altitude 0. Being ground level usually associated with public dwelling, fog incorporates the concept of "within" as one need to be within it to understand what it is, the same way one need to see clouds above in the sky to understand what they are. In this way, the observer, besides losing visibility also loses the perception of the limits and edges of this phenomenon.
Many, specially in the field of the so called plastic and/or performance arts, have tried to use it artistically or even architecturally by containing it either by creating the container or by searching one in existing architecture. Examples include: Olafur Eliasson with "The weather project" (2003) at the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern London and "The mediated motion" (2001) at the Kunsthaus Bregenz; Antony Gormley with "Blind Light" at The Hayward, London. The later, a room-size glass box filled with dense water vapor and brilliantly diffused light, causes the ones who enter it to "lose all sense of direction. Indeed, a typical first reaction is anxiety, and it s nearly impossible to exit without finding a wall thick with condensation and following it back to the entrance. Once outside, a walk around the perimeter reveals a perfect white cube occasionally marked by a handprint from within."
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From the observation of these two installations, it becomes clear as some elements must be present in order to fully experience the nature of fog. First, one has to be within it, one must lose oneself. Light plays a big role too, as light generates shadows which in turn are projected through the tiny water droplets as shafts of light are projected through dust - rays of shadow.
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Deborah Wilk, in Time Out New York / Issue 633 : November 15, 2007 - November 21, 2007.