Bruce Yoder

Implausible rainbows - Bruce Yoder

Participations
Implausible Rainbows (2026)

Selected Artworks
ethereal fleeting
implausible rainbows

Links
Google Scholar

Bio

Born and raised in the American Midwest, Bruce Yoder first moved to Switzerland in 2006 to pursue doctoral studies at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He later joined the University of British Columbia in Canada for a postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation before returning to Swiss academia.

Bruce Yoder is a senior research scientist at ETH Zürich working in the field of physical chemistry. His research focuses on the spectroscopy of aerosol particles and fundamental studies of light–matter interactions, contributing to a deeper understanding of the physical world. He is involved in several projects within ETH Zürich’s Aerosol and Nanoscience Group, as well as collaborations with synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities across Europe.

Since 2018, Bruce Yoder has collaborated on the art project Ethereal Fleeting, which seeks to generate moments and provoke reflection through the synthetic extrapolation of delicate balances found in nature. With a particular interest in the transitory nature of existence and an affinity for juxtaposition, his practice challenges ideas that are too often accepted as self-evident. In 2024, the collaboration continued with Implausible Rainbows.

Implausible Rainbows

Installation (Responsive Dreams 2026)

↑ Click on the image below to play the video

2024, artificial atmospheric phenomena
with Bruce Yoder

Inspired by the optical phenomena observed in our atmosphere, such as rainbows, halos and solar coronae, the piece attempts to extrapolate these astonishing natural wonders into tangible synthetic phenomena.

Using multiple highly-collimated light sources and specialized optics, the installation creates synthetic rainbows that move and transform slowly in the exhibition space. Based on the coupled motions of our solar system, it uses periodic rotations of light to produce an ever evolving environment.

The piece plays with the perception of the visitors who navigate the space, contemplating each rainbow from different positions. As is the case for their natural analogs, the synthetic optical phenomena are dependent on the observer’s position. The forms and dependencies differ from those found in nature, thus raising fundamental questions about our shared conceptions of reality. The installation explores how we interact with our environment and exposes the intrinsic human desire to imitate, as well as to exert control over nature.

The installation is appropriating concepts from climate engineering, geoengineering and weather control for an artistic experience. Weather control has historically been a crucial issue of military and geopolitical concern. While other atmospheric phenomena such as clouds feature a highly geostrategic interest in terms of access to water and cooling, rainbows are phenomena of pure aesthetic and poetic interest.

The work further speculates on how these phenomena might appear in another world or in a future where atmospheric conditions are altered, for example: how would the rainbow of an aging and cooling sun look?

For Resposive Dreams, a site specific daytime version of the installation is created, playing with the delicacy of optical atmospheric phenomena.