Parallel Universes

Paul Wong, 2025
Pair of Nxylon black diamonds, Nxylon bass veneer and arbutus word core, mirrored acrylic custom case.
Courtesy of the Artist in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Wood Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia

Star Witnesses July 15 – Sept 28, 2025, The Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver. Curator Monika Szewczyk.

Dr. Phil Evans, who leads the Center for Advanced Wood Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia (UBC) has written of the potential space applications for wood in New Scientist journal:

The Royal Society made an inspired choice, rather than an odd one, in deciding to celebrate its 350th anniversary by sending a piece of wood into space on the shuttle Atlantis (15 May, p 4). Not only did the piece of wood come from the apple tree that inspired Isaac Newton to develop his theory of gravity, but wood is also useful in space. White oak tiles performed admirably as a heat shield on a Chinese recoverable satellite. The tiles developed a layer of insulating char which impeded heat flow into the vehicle while it was entering Earth’s atmosphere. Balsa wood was used as a crushable impact attenuator to protect delicate components such as transmitters when spacecraft were deliberately crash-landed on the moon. Who knows what uses might be found for apple wood? (June 19, 2010)

As the 2024/2025 Artist-in-Residence at UBC’s Department of Art History Visual Art & Theory (AHVA), Paul Wong was introduced to Dr. Evans and his research team of PhD students, who shared their recent material discovery, Nxylon. Pronounced (niks-uh-lon), after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, and xylon, the Greek word for wood, this ultra-dark material is the unexpected result of tests with basswood strips inside a high-energy plasma reactor, for making wood more water repellent. It now contributes to a broad search for the darkest materials on Earth. Nxylon can absorb 99% of the light that strikes it, significantly more than average black paint, which on average absorbs 97%. This makes the wood very valuable for astronomical equipment; the woodgrain also makes each plasma-treated part unique.

Such qualities inspired Paul Wong to propose different forms of art that may serve to further scientific innovation with Nxylon. Parallel Worlds is one of several results of this vibrant collaboration, and premieres in Star Witnesses.

Research and Production
UBC Forestry: Sara Xu, Kenneth Cheng, Dr. Philip Evans
UBC AHVA Media Lab: Timothy Fernandes
Christian Yves Jones at Paul Wong Projects
Nomi Stricker and Alex Haythorne at The Polygon Gallery

Photo 1, 3 by Dennis Ha
Photo 2, 4 by Christian Yves Jones

Learn More

Radio-Canada: Paul Wong et le bois noir
CBC: The Polygon Gallery presents Star Witnesses