\r\nThis was written December 3rd, 2025<\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\nUnseen Wonder<\/h2>\r\n
\r\nThere he was, as usual, spending all day in his workshop. Good ol’ Professor Isaac, hard\r\nat work. His obsessions with Science-Fiction never waned, from H.G. Wells, to Asimov,\r\nfrom Jules Vernes to Orwell, from Arthur C. Clarke to Bradbury, he could spend all day\r\npassionately discoursing about them and their works of fiction. Yet, it wasn’t their\r\nexploration of ethical and moral issues, of what it means to be human, of the limits \r\nof humanity, that kept him interested. It was their imaginative worlds, and more importantly,\r\ntheir various gadgets and inventions. And somehow, none was more appealing than the plot\r\ndevice of The Invisible Man. Somehow, the eponymous character had invented a special dye\r\nthat would, similar to grease on paper tissue, render any object transparent. Oh, such\r\nan invention seemed so unlikely, and yet so promising.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nOf course, nowadays, no one believed such naive concepts. Amongst other things, of course\r\nit would come about with drawbacks. He’d already heard various people mock the concept of\r\ninvisibility, for after all, if light passed right through your eyes, how could you \r\npossibly see? Yet, his dream wasn’t to turn invisible himself. It’s this wild notion of\r\nmaking something that should be visible invisible that fascinated him, in the abstract\r\nsense.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAnd so, he’d gotten obsessed with this notion. Obviously, he went a different way from\r\nthe initial concept. He’d opted to start by taking color away from materials, like with\r\nbleach. This, to him, sounded promising. Yet, this turned into a dead-end. What ended up\r\npromising was when he discovered a process that seemed to weaken the electromagnetic\r\ninteractions of some materials. Not how different particles interacted with eachother,\r\nbut rather how they reacted to electromagnetic waves. Somehow, it lowered the probability\r\nof those interactions happening. Eventually, he found ways to reduce those to satisfying\r\nparameters. Not completely zero, but sufficient for practical purposes. And there he was,\r\nfaced with a success, after so much devotion. The invention he had so long dreamt of was\r\nfinally made a reality.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nNow, obviously, he’d only applied this process to small scale experimental samples, nothing\r\nquite at scale. So he found himself faced with a choice. What should be the first object\r\nhe test it against? While he could obviously rerun this as many times as he wanted, there\r\nwould always be something special about the first object. So…what should it be? Well,\r\nas the sentimental fool he was, he wanted to commemorate this with a photograph that he\r\nwould frame and keep around. Obviously, while tempting for the irony, it would be silly\r\nto just render a photograph invisible. Yet, right there was a great candidate: The frame.\r\nAccordingly, he made himself a simple wooden frame, except one that would completely\r\nenclose the photograph: No glass nor plastic.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nOnce complete, it was a miraculous sight. The photograph, right there, just floating in\r\nmid-air. He rejoiced and was so taken by it that he found his face dripping with joyful\r\ntears. Oh, the cathartic release of such success after so many failures, mixed with the\r\npure wonders of such a sight. As he got ready to nail the frame to the wall, he suddenly\r\nhad a new idea: What if he also turned the nail invisible? This could be interesting too.\r\nAnd so it was that a photograph could be found in the workshop, miraculously hanging in\r\nmidair, with a small hole appearing just an inch above. On the photograph could be seen\r\nour dear Professor Isaac standing next to a mysterious contraption.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nNow, of course, he spent the next few days in a manic state trying to figure out what he\r\ncould do with this new discovery. But once this high subsided, he wanted to find an actual\r\ninnovative purpose for his invention, and novel application to something old. His deepest\r\ndesire was to bring his sense of wonder to others, which he was convinced his invention\r\ncould do, if done properly. And, once again, he turned to fiction for inspiration:\r\nThe Emperor’s New Clothes. While the purpose would not be to literally<\/i> stay warm\r\nwhile being naked, he figured there could be interesting fashion implications to having\r\ninvisible segments to fabric. After all, he was pretty sure he’d seen “retro-futuristic\r\naccoutrements” using plastic to approximate this effect.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nObviously, he currently only had the means to make bulk material invisible, so he could\r\nnot really make precise adjustments to a specific piece of clothing. Still, by the nature\r\nof clothing, there was a simple solution, he could simply turn the raw material itself\r\ninvisible. Thus, he opted to work with a local seamstress. He first decided to learn a bit\r\nmore about the different kinds of threads that could be used to make clothing, in order\r\nto select the correct candidate. Eventually, he purchased a few cones of the adequate\r\nthread, under the guise of experimenting in order to produce a novel material. Eventually,\r\nhe found a way to dislodge the thread from the cone, and how to re-wind it back on the cone.\r\nObviously, the cone itself shouldn’t turn invisible, or this could raise suspicions.\r\nOnce this was ready, he simply took the thread off, turned the bundle invisible, and\r\nre-wound it. With a few cones of invisible thread, he finally went back to see the seamstress,\r\nwho thought he sure was to jest. That is, until he asked her to touch the cone. Obviously,\r\nit did look rather peculiar to her, as if it was just floating between his hands, but how\r\ncould neatly clear thread truly exist? Even glass isn’t usually this invisible. Still,\r\nonce faced with the reality of her senses, she was forced to acknowledge the reality.\r\nShe, in turn, was filled with a sense of wonder rivaling his own from just a few days ago,\r\nwhich utterly delighted our dear Professor. After all, this was what he was seeking.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAfter she had finally convinced herself this was a reality, without delay she went about\r\nto work, trying to figure out how to actually deal with this miracle material. She cut\r\nand measured a few pieces, tried to figure out how to properly use it despite the clear\r\nchallenges posed by their unique property. Obviously, working with a material you can’t\r\nsee if by no means trivial. Yet, eventually, most professionals manage to find ways to\r\ndeal with such work without explicitly relying on their sight, but instead their other\r\nsenses. And so, it didn’t take long for her to find her bearing, And she got quickly at\r\nwork, possessed by the muse. Inspiration was present and accounted for. It would take a few\r\ndays, but it would be a true masterpiece.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nWhen it was finally ready, they decided to first expose it on a mannequin. It was quite\r\nthe sight, a clear see-through spiral circling the down the bodice of the dress. Same\r\nswirling pattern going along both arms. It was definitely unique and unorthodox. But they\r\ncouldn’t wait to see it in action. They had to see it. And the seamstress herself decided\r\nto go for it. The results, breathtaking through its “un-realness”. As she swirled,\r\nlooking at portions that seemed ripped straight out of the dress, while still remaining\r\ncompletely coherent with the other components, it felt simply astonishing. They were\r\nbeyond themselves, and they were excited to see how people would react to their work.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nUnfortunately, fashion is but fleeting, and capitalism takes any sense of marvel out of\r\nthe equation, turnings the most amazing of things into cold numbers. What-more, the reaction\r\nhe was counting on also correlate with a sense of novelty. Once this wears out, things\r\nappear but mundane. After all, the first time electric light was brought on the scene,\r\npeople walked from miles away to see its introduction on the public scene. Now, it’s but\r\na simple and boring commodity no one things but twice about.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThus it is that, despite the great success of their marvelous fabric, the awe the\r\nProfessor was seeking on faces lasted but a season. Afterwards, while you could see\r\npeople wearing his fabric at every corner, no one cared about…or honestly, really\r\nnoticed it anymore. It just…was. And while he did feel a sense of pride in having\r\ncreated something everyone was using…his goal truly was to be able to share his own\r\nenthusiasm with others.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBut the old man wasn’t simply going to throw the towel. Back to the drawing board it was!\r\nIf a product was not going to be enough, what else could he do? Well, this whole enterprise\r\nhad netted him quite a profit, so he had the funds to try to improve his process. What if\r\nhe could do better than the existing bulk process? What if he could “tattoo” invisibility.\r\nThat was quite the interesting prospect. And amazingly, he did succeed after about a year.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAnd what a revolution this was! Now, for an actual application. Well, an actual tattoo\r\nseemed like a valid application, but this was as-of-yet untested on living flesh. After\r\nall, it’s not like he’d just taken a rat and tried to turn it wholesale invisible. So,\r\nwhere to start with this? Well, he opted to try with a living plant. He had a little\r\nAloe Vera in his workshop, and it was the right width that he could apply it to both\r\nsides to make it seem wholly transparent. Thus, he decided to “cut” one of the leaves,\r\nas in, turn a slice of it invisible (might as well not risk it with the whole plant).\r\nThis way, it looked like parts of the leaf was simply floating in mid-air, and you could\r\neven see the inside of it through the cross-section.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nWhat a mighty result it was. Gorgeous and intriguing…while it lasted. Within a day,\r\nthe leaf had started to wilt, and worried as he was, he opted to simply cut off the entire\r\nleaf. Luckily, after a few days, the plant was back to full health. But what was the true\r\ncause? Initially, the scientist suspected it might be related to photosynthesis, since\r\nit could obviously not take place on those invisible sections anymore. Still, after long\r\ndeliberation, he figured it would not account for the results, especially with such a\r\nshort section having been turned invisible. So clearly, the process was toxic to the\r\nplant. Maybe it reacted in some expected way, releasing some toxins. Maybe the process\r\nitself was directly harming the plant. Hard to say. But…what if it were just plants that\r\ncould be so affected. Well…he didn’t dare subject another creature to this treatment,\r\ntoo high a risk, so he’d never know. Still, he suspected the result would be that necrosis\r\nwould gradually form and spread from the site of the operation.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nWell, he was one application out of the window, but plenty left to fish out. If he was\r\na more sinister man, he might have considered the application to weapons. For example,\r\nweapon concealment would become a simple matter. Or in melee combat, turning a blade\r\ninvisible could cause the opponent to misjudge both the length and the position of the\r\nweapon. Or worse, hiding a body would become a much simpler task. Obviously, other\r\nindicators would be present, such as being able to interact with it physically, or the putrid smell.\r\nBut turn it invisible and toss it in water, and no one would find it. And even still,\r\nin the case someone did find the corpse…identifying it or where it came from would\r\nbecome a Herculean challenge.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBut these were not the kinds of applications he would ever dream of (nightmares still\r\ncount as dreams). He was a hopeful and optimistic individual. It’s been said many times\r\nover, but joy and childlike wonder, these were what he aimed to share. Having had plenty\r\nof time to think, he decided to go from a product to art. After all, when people discuss\r\na sense wonder, the way to instill it seems to be through art. And this recent upgrade\r\nwas quite well-suited for it. Initially, he decided to make sketches on wooden slates,\r\nturning parts invisible instead of adding darkness, making it a dual approach from graphite\r\ndrawing. It was also akin to those portraits made through controlled smashing of glass<\/a>, although\r\nsomewhat in reverse. Initially, he took the same approach as with drawing, marking down with his\r\n“invisible ink” the components to add, what you would usually see. Eventually he opted for the\r\nopposite approach, removing the negative space from the drawing. And for those who think\r\nthere was really no distinction between this and sculpting wood, let me disavow you\r\nof this belief. His version was not only extremely intricate, but it also came with less physical restraints.\r\nIndeed, with a sculpture, you need to worry about structural integrity, whereas here,\r\nthere is no such concern. What-more, he didn’t stop there regardless.\r\n<\/p> \r\nHaving started with a process akin to graphite, he opted to also use similar techniques\r\nfor “shading”, going with some “invisible hatching”. This lent pretty surprising\r\nvisuals. But he didn’t stop there, he already knew he there were ways he didn’t have to\r\nturn something all the way invisible with his process. Thusly, he decided to improve his\r\nprocess to also have control on how invisible things would become. And with this,\r\nmind-blowing results abounded. He was so engrossed with the artistic process and refining\r\nit that he made huge bounds, both on the art itself, and his techniques. He also mixed\r\nand combined different techniques together. For example, hatching with lower invisibility.\r\n<\/p> \r\nAh, and if you thought he’d only stopped there, you would be foolish. He spent many years\r\nperfecting his skills in art, seeking help from different professionals, while not letting\r\nthem in on the secret, worried this would spoil the ultimate surprise, and result in the\r\nrug being pulled from under him. His next move was to experiment with 3d art. He started\r\nby simply drawing invisible patterns on vases and cups. On various objects he had. Some\r\nof those were rather interesting. He also tried to turn some liquid containers invisible,\r\nonly to eventually realize that if they were meant to keep the liquid insulated, they’d\r\nlost a lot of their efficiency. However, if that wasn’t its primary use, it made for a\r\ncool novelty. Then, he moved on to incorporating the invisible art to 3d objects, allowing\r\nfor different objects to appear to be fully floating in thin-air.\r\n<\/p> \r\nBut why stop there? What about kinetics? He learned to actually get his art moving. Gears,\r\nwires, all of it at play. But obviously, you can see the twist coming. All of the machinery\r\nhe would turn invisible. This way, it all looked as if the object were moving through the\r\nair of their own accord. This all looked so magical. Now, he finally had created something\r\nthat should inspire true wonder.\r\n<\/p> \r\nAnd thus, he decided to exhibit all of his creations issues from artistry and craftsmanship,\r\nand expose it for all to see. And the reaction he was looking for was there, bigger than\r\never. Oh how joyful he was, from bring such joy and awe to so many people, especially the\r\nkids. But as you might have guessed, this did not continue on forever. Art itself also\r\ntends to follow fashions. Some pieces persist, but most don’t elicit much beyond their\r\ninitial release. And even then, interest only gets renewed much later. Thus it was he\r\nrealized his quest was likely in vain. Oh but does that mean this Professor gave up and\r\nturned bitter from his frustration? No, of course not. This story has a happy ending.\r\n<\/p> \r\nEventually, he decided to look outward to the main ways people can still elicit this\r\nsense of awe. He discovered that best results are obtained when people are actually\r\nthemselves seeking this sense of awe. Clothing was definitely not it, since it was\r\npurely utilitarian. Art was a better candidate, but the art community keeps seeking new\r\nthrills, leaving true wonders behind in search of novelty. His issue was that he opted\r\nfor the wrong target-audience.\r\n\r\nAlthough he did discover through this recent portion of his quest that the applying and\r\ndedicating yourself to learning and perfecting a skill can actually achieve similar\r\nresults, although at a personal level. And thus, he eventually opened an art atelier\r\nand served as a mentor to many, and found some of what he was looking for through the\r\nprogress of his students, the blossoming of their skills and their own amazement at the\r\nprogress and discoveries their hard work resulted in, along with how the world gradually\r\nchanged around them as they learned to look at things differently.\r\n\r\nHowever, that is not the only place he got his wish fulfilled. In this world, magic\r\nand wonder still exists and is kept alive where people seek it and are willing to\r\nsuspend their sense of disbelief. This is in the so aptly named art of magic. And with\r\nhis new invention, he was able to make many contraptions that defied common understanding.\r\nHe routines became more and more elaborate, and he each time he performed, it would be\r\nto a full auditorium. Yet, he did seek neither money nor merit, but instead was hoping\r\nto bring some joy back to the heart of those who grew to see the world as drab,\r\nto ignite their curiosity, inspiration and drive, and see the twinkle in their eyes as\r\nthey think the world might still have a glimmer of magic. And he did succeed\r\n\r\nAnd thus, if you ever find yourself to pass by Isaac’s old village, I recommend you stop\r\nby his workshop, where all of his sculptures are still being exposed. You should\r\nalso buy a ticket to watch him perform, this is one show you will never regret seeing,\r\neven if you suspect his real tricks. And who knows, you might also get a chance to speak\r\nwith such an enthusiastic character that might renew your fate in yourself, this world\r\nand your curiosity. If you feel uninspired, this might re-ignite your inner flame.\r\n<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was written December 3rd, 2025 Unseen Wonder There he was, as usual, spending all day in his workshop. Good ol’ Professor Isaac, hard at work. His obsessions with Science-Fiction never waned, from H.G. Wells, to Asimov, from Jules Vernes to Orwell, from Arthur C. Clarke to Bradbury, he could spend all day passionately discoursing … Continue reading Writing Challenge 2025 \u2013 06 – Unseen Wonder<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2485,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions\/2485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}