01 | 19

Cymatic Shirt. Black edition

Name: Cymatic Shirt. Black edition
Brand: Vollebak
SKU: TPS089BLKXSM
Price: 345.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

A bowling shirt that’s a bit more like The Big Bang than The Big Lebowski.

$345

Colour: black edition

XS

S

M

L

XL

XXL

Model is 6ft 2 / 188cm with a 39 inch / 99cm chest, and wears size L.

Printed with cymatic patterns captured in 6K resolution
Relaxed fit for unrestricted movement
Minimalist exterior with hidden technical detailing

In 1942 Nikola Tesla told a friend that, "if you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration." What he forgot to say is that “it might also look really cool on a shirt.”

The term ‘cymatics’ was first coined by Swiss physician Hans Jenny to describe the science of visible sound. Using oscillators to vibrate plates coated with powders, pastes and liquids, he revealed that different frequencies could generate complex, repeating patterns – often resembling the structures found in nature. His experiments proved that sound is not just something we hear, but a force capable of shaping matter into organised, harmonious structures.

Today we’ve brought this invisible architecture of sound to clothing, just like Nikola Tesla would have wanted. We’ve worked with experimental filmmaker Josef Gatti who works with water and oil to capture the pulsating patterns created by sound waves and harmonic resonances in 6K. And we’ve used these to create two summer bowling shirts that look a bit more like The Big Bang than The Big Lebowski.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Material: 100% cotton

Printed with cymatic patterns captured in 6K resolution

Relaxed fit for ease of movement

Forwarded 4cm shoulder seams with single-needle topstitching

Smaller concealed button under the collar to hold shape

Double-turned and stitched 1cm hems for durability

5.5cm reinforced side slits with bar tack at top

Internal construction with French seams for clean finish

Shaped facings with 5mm turned and stitched edges

Lightweight, breathable, and engineered for summer wear

Available in two colourways: Black/White and White/Black

Constructed with perimeter-stitched woven size and care labels

Designed for minimal bulk and maximum airflow

Material weighs 77g/m2

Shirt weighs 150 grams

Machine wash 30ºC

Constructed in Portugal

Material: 100% cotton

Printed with cymatic patterns captured in 6K resolution

Relaxed fit for ease of movement

Forwarded 4cm shoulder seams with single-needle topstitching

Smaller concealed button under the collar to hold shape

Double-turned and stitched 1cm hems for durability

5.5cm reinforced side slits with bar tack at top

Internal construction with French seams for clean finish

Shaped facings with 5mm turned and stitched edges

Lightweight, breathable, and engineered for summer wear

Available in two colourways: Black/White and White/Black

Constructed with perimeter-stitched woven size and care labels

Designed for minimal bulk and maximum airflow

Material weighs 77g/m2

Shirt weighs 150 grams

Machine wash 30ºC

Constructed in Portugal

01 | 03

The invisible architecture of sound

The long history of harmonic patterns

It’s highly unlikely that Hooke and Chladni were the first to explore the function of wave mechanics. They just got the best press. You find these kinds of mind-bendingly complex patterns in the architecture, design and philosophy of ancient cultures on almost every continent.

We’ve brought the invisible architecture of sound to clothing. Just like Nikola Tesla would have wanted.

Hans Jenny and the rise of modern cymatics

But it wasn’t until the 20th century that the term ‘cymatics’ was coined by Swiss physician Hans Jenny to describe the science of visible sound. Using oscillators to vibrate plates coated with powders, pastes and liquids, Jenny revealed that different frequencies could generate complex, repeating patterns – often resembling the structures found in nature. His experiments proved that sound is not just something we hear, but a force capable of shaping matter into organised, harmonious structures.

We used the universal art of cymatics to create bowling shirts that look a bit more like The Big Bang than The Big Lebowski.

Capturing cosmic structure in 6K

Josef Gatti, an Australian filmmaker, started experimenting with cymatics in 2016, intrigued by the wave forms he could create with water and a sub-woofer. He turned his skills, and the best film-making tools, to capturing the way sound can re-order matter into complex, repeating patterns. Each visualisation took hours of experimentation, and he filmed the results in stunning 6K. Working with Gatti, we captured stills from two of his cymatics sequences and turned them into mesmerising prints.

Isolating pure pattern

Gatti experimented with water, salt, pollen and non-Newtonian fluid to create his cymatics short films. And used smart lighting to remove background detail. “I want to see whatever interaction is taking place as purely as possible,” Gatti says. “With these films, I’ve been able to isolate the pure pattern. They go beyond language, beyond culture but we have an inherent attraction to them, we’re hardwired to respond to them in some way.”

Capturing cymatics in prints

Our first pattern was created with water and sound frequencies between 200Hz and 250Hz. And it was filmed with a single-point source light to the side of the dish to produce a finer and more irregular pattern. The second was created using oil and a sound frequency of 50Hz. And it was lit from all directions with a larger source, producing thicker lines.

Science experiment meets psychedelic odyssey

Josef Gatti’s cymatics experiments were the launch pad for Phenomena, a nine-part original digital series for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation looking at energy, matter, sound waves, light, electricity, magnetism, magnitudes and evolution. The films are part popular science programming, part psychedelic odyssey into the hidden maths and mechanics of the cosmic substructure.

We turned 6K footage of sound waves shaping matter into prints. Then put them on a classic bowling shirt for summer.

The bowling shirt re-engineered and re-imagined

The bowling shirt first showed up in post-war America as the unofficial uniform of suburban league players. While they were originally built so that you could swing a really heavy ball in one hand while drinking a beer with the other, we’ve gone for something a little lighter, sharper and more technical. Instead of traditional silky rayon, we’ve used 100% cotton for a cooler, cleaner feel. And traditional embroidered names and logos have been replaced with the action of sound waves.

Minimalist design for summer

A relaxed fit is paired with double-turned and stitched hems, French-seamed insides, and reinforced side slits built to handle constant motion. Two pleats at the back yoke allow extra reach across the shoulders, while the lightweight cotton keeps airflow high even when the heat kicks in. A concealed collar button locks the collar neatly in place, and shaped internal facings keep the inside clean and strong. It's the structure of the original bowling shirt but re-engineered for summer.