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The Binary Black Hole Chonk Chart
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Category:

Meme

Artwork title:

The Binary Black Hole Chonk Chart

Description:

This artwork reimagines the "chonk chart" meme using real astrophysical data. Black holes detected through gravitational waves are represented by increasingly chonky cats, with their sizes corresponding to different masses. The artwork uses observations from GWTC-5, the latest catalogue of gravitational-wave events. The curve at the bottom shows the inferred population distribution, revealing which black-hole masses are most common and highlighting rarer objects in "mass gaps" that challenge models of how black holes form from massive stars. My research explores the masses, spins, and formation histories of merging black holes. I created this piece to make complex data accessible and memorable. The population distribution was generated in Matplotlib; the vector illustrations, annotations, and final composition were created in Adobe Illustrator. (Original artwork created July 2025; revised with the GWTC-5 dataset. No AI was used.)

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1

Ryan

I learned something and had a chuckle, nice work!

6 Weeks

99
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999
😀😃😄😁😆😅😂🤣🙂🙃😊😇😍😘😜🤑🤗🤔😔🤢🤯🧐🥳🙆🖖👌🤏✌👍👎👊👏🤝🚀🛸🌙⭐⚡🔥❄🌍🌎🌏🏔🌋🏖🏝🍊🍄🍿🍣🍰🍕🍔🍟🛀💎🗺⏰🕹📚🐱🐪🐹🐤

Surreal AI
1

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Surreal AI

Click the icon of a page with an arrow (above right) to view full zine. Surreal AI presents a series of hand-crafted digital collages I have made as a creative and critical response to generative AI as part of my research program as a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The zine was inspired by the surrealist art movement. There are many aspects of the current GenAI moment that are surreal: from the ludicrous overblown claims by Big AI for how these services will improve everyday life or replace humans, or are magical or godlike, to tech oligarchs’ fever dreams of ‘the singularity’ involving superintelligent AI taking over the world. The collages and zine was created manually on Canva, using basic image editing tools such as cut and paste, cropping, background removal, image positioning and colour editing (but completely avoiding GenAI tools on that platform). The images were sourced from those available on Canva and in online archives of public domain artworks, such as Public Images by Cosmos.

Tangled Diversity
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Tangled Diversity

The Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) is a rich source of natural food colorants and antioxidants as well as a catalyst for advancements in medicine and agriculture. Key to these innovations are small circular defence molecules known as cyclotides. Notably the eco-friendly pesticide, Sero-X®, derives its potency from extracts of this versatile plant. Utilizing plant genomics and evolutionary studies, researchers at CIPPS aim to unravel the intricate genetic evolution within C. ternatea to shed light on how the plant’s genes have adapted and conferred new functions over time. This artwork blends watercolour painting and digital drawing to pay homage to the myriad of cyclotides produced by C. ternatea. A sequence diversity wheel is entwined by the vine, adorned with its vibrant coloured flowers, creating a visual testament to the plant’s genetic richness.

a lesson in planning
1

Plant Success

a lesson in planning

It always wise to know what gene you’re working with… No AI was used in this piece.

PhD student life
24

Plant Success

PhD student life

This meme captures the two faces of PhD student life: the polished, travel-ready persona shown on social media contrasted with the gritty, hands-on reality of fieldwork and lab slog. As a PhD student improving symbiotic nitrogen fixation in mungbean, your feed might show conference photos and scenic breaks, while actual days are filled with inoculation trays, counting nodules, and long hours troubleshooting experiments. It’s a humorous reminder that impactful research combines polished communication with persistent, unglamorous effort, the unseen experiments, data cleaning, and repetitive tasks that eventually lead to meaningful gains in biological nitrogen fixation.

Data Centre Decoupage
0

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Data Centre Decoupage

This image was created as a commentary on the impacts of hyperscale data centres being built to service GenAI, despoiling the natural world and causing health problems for people. The image was created using multi-media methods. First, I made an image on Canva of a data centre emitting a black cloud of smoke. I then printed this out on photocopy paper. Then I selected a background image from a public domain archive, featuring a oil painting of a landscape. I printed this out too. I then found some images of plants in a magazine. I used these paper materials to handcraft a decoupage creation, creating a 3D effect. I then photographed it with my smartphone and uploaded it to Canva, where I added an ornate gold frame to complete the image. No AI was used.

9

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Gaze Trails

Created in Python using an open-source eye-tracking dataset, this artwork transforms human gaze into a visual landscape. A short video recorded with a Tobii eye tracker in the RMIT Usability Lab is embedded in the piece, revealing how gaze is captured in real time. The video was edited using iMovie. Each coloured line represents the eye-movement trajectory of a different person while reading or searching for information. Though we may look at the same world, we do not see it in the same way. Our gaze reflects our habits, experiences, attention, cognitive states, and even aspects of personality. My research uses eye-tracking signals to better understand how individuals seek information and process knowledge. These insights may support personalised learning and adaptive technologies. Through this artwork, I hope to celebrate the uniqueness of human perception: every gaze follows its own path, and every person experiences the world differently.

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