In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of space (a thermodynamic system), throughout which all physical properties of a material are essentially uniform.^[1] Examples of physical properties include density, index of refraction, magnetization and chemical composition. A simple description is that a phase is a region of material that is chemically uniform, physically distinct, and (often) mechanically separable. In a system consisting of ice and water in a glass jar, the ice cubes are one phase, the water is a second phase, and the humid air over the water is a third phase. The glass of the jar is another separate phase. (See State of Matter#Glass)

The term phase is sometimes used as a synonym for state of matter. Also, the term phase is sometimes used to refer to a set of equilibrium states demarcated in terms of state variables such as pressure and temperature by a phase boundary on a phase diagram. Because phase boundaries relate to changes in the organization of matter, such as a change from liquid to solid or a more subtle change from one crystal structure to another, this latter usage is similar to the use of "phase" as a synonym for state of matter. However, the state of matter and phase diagram usages are not commensurate with the formal definition given above and the intended meaning must be determined in part from the context in which the term is used.

A small piece of rapidly melting argon ice shows the transition from solid to liquid.

Types of phases[link]

Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the conditions necessary to form different phases

Distinct phases may be described as different states of matter such as gas, liquid, solid, plasma or Bose–Einstein condensate. Useful mesophases between solid and liquid form other states of matter.

Distinct phases may also exist within a given state of matter. As shown in the diagram for iron alloys, several phases exist for both the solid and liquid states. Phases may also be differentiated based on solubility as in polar (hydrophilic) or non-polar (hydrophobic). A mixture of water (a polar liquid) and oil (a non-polar liquid) will spontaneously separate into two phases. Water has a very low solubility (is insoluble) in oil, and oil has a low solubility in water. Solubility is the maximum amount of a solute that can dissolve in a solvent before the solute ceases to dissolve and remains in a separate phase. A mixture can separate into more than two liquid phases and the concept of phase separation extends to solids, i.e., solids can form solid solutions or crystallize into distinct crystal phases. Metal pairs that are mutually soluble can form alloys, whereas metal pairs that are mutually insoluble cannot.

As many as eight immiscible liquid phases have been observed.^[2] Mutually immiscible liquid phases are formed from water (aqueous phase), hydrophobic organic solvents, perfluorocarbons (fluorous phase), silicones, several different metals, and also from molten phosphorus. Not all organic solvents are completely miscible, e.g. a mixture of ethylene glycol and toluene may separate into two distinct organic phases.^[3]

Phases do not need to macroscopically separate spontaneously. Emulsions and colloids are examples of immiscible phase pair combinations that do not physically separate.

Phase equilibrium[link]

Left to equilibration, many compositions will form a uniform single phase, but depending on the temperature and pressure even a single substance may separate into two or more distinct phases. Within each phase, the properties are uniform but between the two phases properties differ.

Water in a closed jar with an air space over it forms a two phase system. Most of the water is in the liquid phase, where it is held by the mutual attraction of water molecules. Even at equilibrium molecules are constantly in motion and, once in a while, a molecule in the liquid phase gains enough kinetic energy to break away from the liquid phase and enter the gas phase. Likewise, every once in a while a vapor molecule collides with the liquid surface and condenses into the liquid. At equilibrium, evaporation and condensation processes exactly balance and there is no net change in the volume of either phase.

At room temperature and pressure, the water jar reaches equilibrium when the air over the water has a humidity of about 3%. This percentage increases as the temperature goes up. At 100 °C and atmospheric pressure, equilibrium is not reached until the air is 100% water. If the liquid is heated a little over 100 °C, the transition from liquid to gas will occur not only at the surface, but throughout the liquid volume: the water boils.

Number of phases[link]

A typical phase diagram for a single-component material, exhibiting solid, liquid and gaseous phases. The solid green line shows the usual shape of the liquid–solid phase line. The dotted green line shows the anomalous behavior of water.

For a given composition, only certain phases are possible at a given temperature and pressure. The number and type of phases that will form is hard to predict and is usually determined by experiment. The results of such experiments can be plotted in phase diagrams.

The phase diagram shown here is for a single component system. In this simple system, which phases that are possible depends only on pressure and temperature. The markings show points where two or more phases can co-exist in equilibrium. At temperatures and pressures away from the markings, there will be only one phase at equilibrium.

In the diagram, the blue line marking the boundary between liquid and gas does not continue indefinitely, but terminates at a point called the critical point. As the temperature and pressure approach the critical point, the properties of the liquid and gas become progressively more similar. At the critical point, the liquid and gas become indistinguishable. Above the critical point, there are no longer separate liquid and gas phases: there is only a generic fluid phase referred to as a supercritical fluid. In water, the critical point occurs at around 647 K (374 °C or 705 °F) and 22.064 MPa.

An unusual feature of the water phase diagram is that the solid–liquid phase line (illustrated by the dotted green line) has a negative slope. For most substances, the slope is positive as exemplified by the dark green line. This unusual feature of water is related to ice having a lower density than liquid water. Increasing the pressure drives the water into the higher density phase, which causes melting.

Another interesting though not unusual feature of the phase diagram is the point where the solid–liquid phase line meets the liquid–gas phase line. The intersection is referred to as the triple point. At the triple point, all three phases can coexist.

Experimentally, the phase lines are relatively easy to map due to the interdependence of temperature and pressure that develops when multiple phases forms. See Gibbs' phase rule. Consider a test apparatus consisting of a closed and well insulated cylinder equipped with a piston. By charging the right amount of water and applying heat, the system can be brought to any point in the gas region of the phase diagram. If the piston is slowly lowered, the system will trace a curve of increasing temperature and pressure within the gas region of the phase diagram. At the point where liquid begins to condense, the direction of the temperature and pressure curve will abruptly change to trace along the phase line until all of the water has condensed.

Interfacial phenomena[link]

Between two phases in equilibrium there is a narrow region where the properties are not that of either phase. Although this region may be very thin, it can have significant and easily observable effects, such as causing a liquid to exhibit surface tension. In mixtures, some components may preferentially move toward the interface. In terms of modeling, describing, or understanding the behavior of a particular system, it may be efficacious to treat the interfacial region as a separate phase.

Crystal phases[link]

A single material may have several distinct solid states capable of forming separate phases. Water is a well known example of such a material. For example, water ice is ordinarily found in the hexagonal form ice Ih, but can also exist as the cubic ice Ic, the rhombohedral ice II, and many other forms. Polymorphism is the ability of a solid to exist in more than one crystal form. For pure chemical elements, polymorphism is known as allotropy. For example, diamond, graphite, and fullerenes are different allotropes of carbon.

Phase transitions[link]

When a substance undergoes a phase transition (changes from one state of matter to another) it usually either takes up or releases energy. For example, when water evaporates, the kinetic energy expended as the evaporating molecules escape the attractive forces of the liquid is reflected in a decrease in temperature. The amount of energy required to induce the transition is more than the amount required to heat the water from room temperature to just short of boiling temperature, which is why evaporation is useful for cooling. See Enthalpy of vaporization. The reverse process, condensation, releases heat. The heat energy, or enthalpy, associated with a solid to liquid transition is the enthalpy of fusion and that associated with a solid to gas transition is the enthalpy of sublimation.

See also[link]

• Phase boundary
• Literature of phase boundaries

Notes and references[link]

1. ^ Modell, Michael; Robert C. Reid (1974). Thermodynamics and Its Applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-914861-2. 
2. ^ One such system is, from the top, paraffin oil, silicone oil, water, aniline, perfluoro(dimethylcyclohexane), white phosphorus, gallium and mercury. The system remains indefinitely separated at 45 °C, where gallium and phosphorus are in the molten state. From Reichardt, C. (2006). Solvents and Solvent Effects in Organic Chemistry. Wiley-VCH. pp. 9–10. ISBN 3-527-60567-3. 
3. ^ This phenomenon can be used to help with catalyst recycling in Heck vinylation. See Bhanage, B.M., et al (1998). "Comparison of activity and selectivity of various metal-TPPTS complex catalysts in ethylene glycol — toluene biphasic Heck vinylation reactions of iodobenzene". Tetrahedron Letters 39 (51): 9509–9512. DOI:10.1016/S0040-4039(98)02225-4. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: State of aggregation

• French physicists find a solution that reversibly solidifies with a rise in temperature – α-cyclodextrin, water, and 4-methylpyridine

v t e States of matter Solid Liquid Gas / Vapor Plasma Low energy Bose–Einstein condensate · Fermionic condensate · Quantum Hall · Rydberg matter · Strange matter · Superfluid · Supersolid High energy Degenerate matter · QCD matter · Quark–gluon plasma  · Supercritical fluid Other states Colloid · Glass · Liquid crystal · Magnetically ordered (Antiferromagnet, Ferrimagnet, Ferromagnet) · String-net liquid · Superglass Transitions Boiling · Boiling point · Condensation · Critical line · Critical point · Crystallization · Deionization · Deposition · Evaporation · Flash evaporation · Freezing · Ionization · Lambda point · Melting · Melting point · Regelation · Saturated fluid · Sublimation · Supercooling · Triple point · Vaporization Quantities Enthalpy of fusion · Enthalpy of sublimation · Enthalpy of vaporization · Latent heat · Latent internal energy · Trouton's ratio · Volatility Concepts Binodal · Compressed fluid · Cooling curve · Equation of state · Leidenfrost effect · Mpemba effect · Order and disorder (physics) · Spinodal · Superconductivity · Superheated vapor · Superheating · Thermo-dielectric effect

Look up phase in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Phase or phases may refer to:

In science[link]

In physics[link]

• Phase (matter), a physically distinctive form of a substance, such as the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of ordinary matter
  • Phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase to another
• Phase (separation science)
  • Mobile phase and Stationary phase in chromatography
  • Aqueous phase and organic phase in liquid-liquid extraction
• Phase (waves), the initial angle of a sinusoidal function at its origin
• Polyphase system, a means of distributing alternating current electric power in multiple conducting wires with definite phase offsets
  • Single-phase electric power
  • Three-phase electric power
    • Three-phase, the mathematics of three-phase electric power
• Phase problem, the loss of information (the phase) from a physical measurement
• Phase factor, a complex scalar used in quantum mechanics
• Continuous Fourier transform, the angle of a complex coefficient representing the phase of one sinusoidal component
• Instantaneous phase, generalization for both cyclic and non-cyclic phenomena

In other sciences[link]

• Archaeological phase, a discrete period of occupation at an archaeological site
• Lunar phase, the appearance of the Moon as viewed from the Earth
• Planetary phase, the appearance of the illuminated section of a planet
• In biology, a part of the cell cycle in which cells divide and reproduce
• Color phase, in biology, a group of individuals within a species with a particular coloration
• Phase (syntax), in linguistics, a cyclic domain (proposed by Noam Chomsky)

In entertainment[link]

• Phase (band), an alternative rock band
• "Phases", a box set of albums by The Who
• "Phases" (Buffy episode), an episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Phases (.hack), fictional monsters in the .hack franchise
• Phase IV, a 1974 science fiction movie directed by Saul Bass
• Phase, an incarnation of the DC Comics character usually known as Phantom Girl
• Phaze, an alternate world in Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series

Other uses[link]

• Phase 10, a card game created by Fundex Games
• Phase (video game), a music game for the iPod developed by Harmonix Music Systems
• Phase (combat) usually a period of combat within a larger military operation
• A musical composition using Steve Reich's phasing technique

See also[link]

• Phasing (disambiguation)
• Faze (disambiguation)
• Phaser (disambiguation)
• Phasor (disambiguation)
• FASOR (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Bill Nye
Nye at Bridgewater State University in 2007
Born	(1955-11-27) November 27, 1955 (age 56)[1] Washington, D.C.[1]
Residence	Los Angeles
Fields	Mechanical engineering
Institutions	Boeing Cornell University Planetary Society
Alma mater	Cornell University (BS)
Known for	Bill Nye the Science Guy
Signature

William Sanford "Bill" Nye (born November 27, 1955),^[2] popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the Disney/PBS children's science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.

Early life and career[link]

William Sanford Nye was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jacqueline (née Jenkins; c. 1920–2000), a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (died 1997), also a World War II veteran whose experience in a Japanese prisoner of war camp led him to become a sundial enthusiast.^[3][4][5] Nye is a fourth-generation Washington, D.C. resident on his father's side of the family. After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted to the private Sidwell Friends School on a partial scholarship, graduating in 1973.^[6][7] He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, where one of his professors was Carl Sagan,^[8] and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1977.^[9] He was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Johns Hopkins University in May 2008. In May 2011, Nye was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Willamette University where he was the keynote speaker for that year's commencement exercises.^[10]

Nye began his career in Seattle at Boeing, where, among other things, he starred in training films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the 747. Later he worked as a consultant in the aeronautics industry. Nye told the St. Petersburg Times in 1999 that he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few years but was always rejected.^[11]

The Science Guy[link]

Nye began his professional entertainment career as an actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Almost Live!; Nye attempted to correct the host of Almost Live! after the host pronounced "gigawatt" as "jigowatt."^[12][13] The character name came from the host's comment "Who do you think you are—Bill Nye the Science Guy?" and Nye was thereafter known as such on the program. His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero.

Coincidentally, in 1991–93 he appeared in the live-action educational segments of Back to the Future: The Animated Series with a nonspeaking role as an assistant to Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, in which he would demonstrate science with Lloyd's voice-over. The segments' national popularity led to Nye's hosting the educational television program Bill Nye the Science Guy from 1993 to 1998. Each of the 100 episodes aimed to teach a specific topic in science to a preteen audience, yet it garnered a wide adult audience as well. The show was very popular as a school resource and is still used to this day. He has written several books as The Science Guy. In addition to hosting the show, he was also a writer and producer for the series, which was filmed entirely in Seattle.

When portraying "the Science Guy", Nye wears a light blue lab coat and a bow tie and takes on the persona of an excited, jocular science educator. This popular image of Nye has been parodied by numerous sources, including the webcomic xkcd^[14] and the satirical news organization The Onion.^[15][16] In response to the fake headline "Crack Nearly Killed Me," Nye took the joke in good humor and sent The Onion an email thanking them for "dealing compassionately with this matter."^[17]

He appeared in his Science Guy persona alongside Ellen DeGeneres and Alex Trebek in Ellen's Energy Adventure, an attraction that has played since 1996 at the Universe of Energy pavilion inside Epcot at Walt Disney World. He also has a voice-over at the DINOSAUR attraction in Disney's Animal Kingdom park, where he tells guests about the dinosaurs while they queue for the ride. In addition, he appears in the "Design Lab" of CyberSpace Mountain inside DisneyQuest at Walt Disney World, where he refers to himself as "Bill Nye the Coaster Guy."

[edit] Post-Science Guy career

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Bill Nye "The Science Guy" and Executive Director of The Planetary Society received the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's "In Praise of Reason" Award at CSICON 2011 in New Orleans

Nye remained interested in science education through entertainment. He created a 13-episode PBS KCTS-TV series about science, called The Eyes of Nye, aimed at an older audience than his previous show had been. Airing in 2005, it often featured episodes based on politically relevant themes such as genetically modified food, global warming, and race.

He played a science teacher in Disney's 1998 TV movie The Principal Takes a Holiday; he made a hovercraft in order to demonstrate science in an unusual classroom manner. From 2000 to 2002, Nye was the technical expert in BattleBots. In 2004 and 2005, Nye hosted 100 Greatest Discoveries, an award-winning series produced by THINKFilm for The Science Channel and in high definition on the Discovery HD Theater. He was also host of an eight-part Discovery Channel series called Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye.

Nye has guest-starred in several episodes of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting children about math was an inspiration for creating the Numb3rs show.^[18]

Bill joined the American Optometric Association in a multimedia advertising campaign to educate parents on the importance of getting their children a comprehensive eye examination.^[19]

He was a regular in TV Land discussions. He has also made guest appearances on the VH1 reality show America's Most Smartest Model.^[20]

Nye appears in segments of The Climate Code on The Weather Channel, telling his personal ways of saving energy. He still makes regular appearances on the show, often asking quiz questions.

As of fall 2008, Nye also appears on the daytime game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as part of the show's reintroduced "Ask the Expert" lifeline. In 2008, he also hosted Stuff Happens, a show on the then new Planet Green network.

In November 2008, Nye appeared in an acting role as himself in the fifth-season episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis alongside fellow television personality and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.^[21]

Nye has appeared numerous times on the talk show Larry King Live, speaking about topics such as global warming^[22] and UFOs.^[23] He argued that global warming is an issue that should be addressed by governments of the world in part because it could be implicated in the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. On UFOs he has been skeptical of extraterrestrial explanations for sightings such as those at Roswell and Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967.

In 2009, portions of Bill Nye's shows were used as lyrics and portions of the second Symphony of Science science education music video by composer John Boswell.

Nye recorded a short YouTube video (as himself, not his TV persona) advocating clean energy climate change legislation on behalf of Al Gore's Repower America campaign in October 2009.^[24]

Nye (as his TV persona) also made a guest appearance on The Dr. Oz Show.

On March 12, 2011, Nye made an appearance on CNN to discuss the evolving nuclear incidents in Japan as a result of the devastating earthquake and tsunami there. Nye erroneously stated that cesium is used to "slow and control" the nuclear reaction. ^[25] In reality, cesium (specifically cesium-137) is a nuclear fission product, not a control rod material. Nye also erroneously stated that the nuclear reactor involved in the Three Mile Island incident is still running and that the use of boron to slow the nuclear chain reaction is uncommon, when in fact boron-10 is commonly used in control rods, and is circulated in the coolant of reactors in the United States, as well as stored on site as a method of emergency shutdown.^[26][27]

A solar noon clock atop Rhodes Hall was gifted from Nye to Cornell on Aug. 27 following a public lecture that filled the 715-seat Statler Auditorium. Nye talked about his father's passion for sundials and timekeeping, his time at Cornell, his work on the sundials mounted on the Mars rovers and the story behind the Bill Nye Solar Noon Clock. ^[28]

Life outside television[link]

Nye speaking in 2010.

In the early 2000s, Nye assisted in the development of a small sundial that was included in the Mars Exploration Rover missions. Known as MarsDial, it included small colored panels to provide a basis for color calibration in addition to helping keep track of time.^[29] From 2005 to 2010 Nye was the vice president of The Planetary Society, an organization that advocates space science research and the exploration of other planets, particularly Mars.^[30] He became the organization's second Executive Director in September 2010 when Louis Friedman stepped down.^[31][32]

In November 2010, Nye became the face of a new permanent exhibition at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, CA. Bill Nye’s Climate Lab features Nye as commander of the Clean Energy Space Station, and invites visitors on an urgent mission to thwart climate change. Beginning with a view of Planet Earth from space, visitors explore air, water, and land galleries to discover how climate change affects Earth’s connected systems, and how to use the Sun, wind, land, and water to generate clean energy. In an interview about the exhibit, Nye said, “Everything in the exhibit is geared to showing you that the size of the problem of climate change is big. Showing you a lot about energy use... It’s a huge opportunity... We need young people, entrepreneurs, young inventors, young innovators to change the world.” ^[33]

He holds several United States patents,^[34] including one for ballet pointe shoes^[30] and another for an educational magnifying glass created by filling a clear plastic bag with water.^[35][36] From 2001–2006 Nye served as Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at Cornell University.^[9][37] Nye supported the 2006 reclassification of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.^[38]

Since 2006, Nye has lived in Los Angeles in a house with modifications, though has owned a house on Mercer Island.^{[citation needed]} As of July 2007, Nye and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr. are engaging in a friendly competition "to see who could have the lowest carbon footprint," according to Begley.^[39] In a 2008 interview, Nye joked that he wants to "crush Ed Begley" in their environmental competition.^[40] Nye and Begley are neighbors in Los Angeles, and sometimes dine together at a local vegetarian restaurant.^[40] Nye often appears on Begley's Planet Green reality show Living with Ed.

Nye made an appearance in Palmdale's 2010 video "Here Comes the Summer"^[41]; the band's lead singer Kay Hanley is his neighbor.

Nye is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a U.S. non-profit scientific and educational organization whose aim is to promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.^[42]

Interviewed by John Rael for the Independent Investigation Group IIG, Nye stated that his "concern right now... scientific illiteracy... you don't [the public] have enough rudimentary knowledge of the universe to evaluate claims."^[43]

Personal life[link]

Nye announced his engagement during an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and was married briefly to his fiancée of five months, author Blair Tindall, on February 3, 2006. The ceremony was performed by Rick Warren at The Entertainment Gathering at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Yo-Yo Ma provided the music.^[44] Nye left the relationship seven weeks later when the marriage license was declared invalid;^[45] their impromptu ceremony, which preceded the license purchase, violated California state law, said Tindall in a radio interview.^[46] Nye later secured a temporary restraining order against Tindall after she entered his property late at night to pour weed killer in his garden.^[45]

Nye enjoys baseball and occasionally does experiments involving the physics of the game. As a longtime Seattle resident before becoming an entertainer, he is said to have been a fan of the Seattle Mariners, although recently he has voiced his preference (as a D.C. native) for the Washington Nationals.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

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Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bill Nye

• Official website
• Bill Nye at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Nye on Twitter
• Nye-Tindall wedding video
• An interview/discussion with Nye as guest on the radio show Loveline
• "Changing The World With Science Education" interview on Point of Inquiry.
• Seattle Times interview (April 26, 2004)
• Science Channel interview

PHASE 2 (aka Lonny Wood)^[1] is one of the most influential and well known New York City aerosol artists. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble letter" style of aerosol writing, also known as "softies".^[2] He was also influential in the early hip-hop scene.

Graffiti career[link]

Phase 2 is from The Bronx, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School along with a number of other early graffiti artists. Many famous graffiti writers of the early 1970s would meet at a doughnut shop across from the school called the Coffee Shop before heading down to the subway station at 149th Street and Grand Concourse to watch tagged trains on the IRT line pass by.^[3] Phase 2 was mentored in graffiti by his friend and neighbor Thomas Lee aka Lee 163d!, one of the pioneers of graf writing in The Bronx.^[2]

He began writing in late 1971 under the name Phase 2, a moniker which had a rather mundane provenance. As Phase 2 would later recall, "the previous year we'd given this party. We were getting ready to give another one and I said, 'We'll call this one Phase Two.' I don't know why, but I was stuck on the name. It had meaning for me. I started writing 'Phase 2.'"^[4]

Part of the appeal of graffiti writing for Phase 2 was that it allowed him to get his "name" known yet remain anonymous.^[5] He noted later that tagging provided disadvantaged urban teens "the only significant vehicle to represent their 'existence.'"^[6]

It was in late 1972 that Phase 2 first used an early version of the "bubble letter" or "softie", a style of graffiti writing which would become extremely influential and is considered a "giant leap" in the art form.^[2] The puffed-out, marshmallow-like letters drawn by Phase 2 were soon copied by other artists who added their own variations. Phase himself quickly embellished on his original form, creating and naming dozens of varieties of softies such as "phasemagorical phantastic" (bubble letters with stars), "bubble cloud", and "bubble drip."^[7] He is also credited with pioneering the use of arrows in graf writing around this same time.^[8] Hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang has noted that Phase 2's canvasses from 1973 have "been widely recognized as defining the early genre."^[9]

Over time Phase's work become more and more complex, moving far away from the simple tags of the early 70s to "hieroglyphical calligraphic abstraction."^[5] Chang points out that much of Phase's work involved "deconstructing the letter", transforming characters in the alphabet "into hard lines, third eyes, horns, drills, spikes, Egyptian pharaohs and dogs, pure geometrics."^[9] Another New York graffiti artist, Vulcan, remarked that "one of the things about Phase is that he was the only person at the time whose name could roll by ten times and each piece was different. That's what you noticed about his [work]."^[5]

In 1974 Phase 2 joined the newly created United Graffiti Artists, a professional graffiti collective which began to attract media attention. He was featured in an important essay on graffiti art by Richard Goldstein which appeared in New York magazine and inspired a new generation of graffiti artists.^[2]

In the 1980s, Phase 2 began publishing International Graffiti Times, the first zine about graffiti writing.^[10]

Influence in hip-hop[link]

Unlike some other pioneers of New York City graffiti, Phase 2 had a prominent role in The South Bronx hip-hop scene in the early 1980s. He also continues to be referenced in hip-hop songs.

Phase participated in the legendary hip-hop shows organized by Kool Lady Blue during the summer of 1982 at the Roxy nightclub in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. These shows brought together the top DJ's, MC's, breakers, and aerosol artist from The South Bronx and introduced hip-hop music and culture to the downtown punk and new wave scenes. Phase 2 designed the flyers for these events and often did aerosol pieces live on stage.^[11] He was also part of the first "international" hip-hop tour when stars from the Roxy performances toured in England and France in November of that year.^[12]

Phase 2 was one of the few aerosol artists to be involved in the musical side of hip-hop culture as well. He had a background as a DJ in the very early days of hip-hop, though he never made a name for himself in that role.^[13] In 1982, as part of his involvement with the Roxy scene, Phase released two rap singles. "Beach Boy" was a collaboration with Barry Michael Cooper, who would later co-write the script for New Jack City. "The Roxy" featured the Bill Laswell-led group Material and Grandmixer D.ST, though Phase 2 would later remark that he was disappointed in the song and felt that it "wasn't done properly."^[13][14]

Phase was also an early b-boy and claims that his dance crew pioneered the uprock (or "battle rock") style of dance despite claims that it originated in Brooklyn.^[13] He was thus actively involved in all of the traditional "four elements" of hip-hop culture.

Though he did not have a role in the production, Phase 2 did apparently influence the classic early hip-hop movie Wild Style. In the DVD commentary for the film, director Charlie Ahearn explained that, when thinking about the key character named "Phade", he had Phase 2 in mind (either to actually play the part or simply as a model) because Phase was a legendary graffiti writer from the past who was also involved in the hip-hop scene, as was the character of Phade. The role would ultimately be played by Fab 5 Freddy, himself a graffiti artist who along with Ahearn was the major creative force behind Wild Style. Phase 2 did take on an official role in another early hip-hop film when he worked as a graffiti consultant on the 1984 movie Beat Street.^[15]

In his 1995 song "Out for Fame" - an homage to graffiti artists and culture - KRS-One implores his audience "in the name of Phase 2" and fellow Bronx graffiti legend Stay High to "grab your cans and hit the streets." Several years later Mos Def mentioned Phase 2 on his widely respected debut album Black on Both Sides, specifically on the track "Hip Hop", in which he noted that hip-hop itself was "all city like Phase 2" - presumably a reference to the ubiquity of Phase 2's graffiti pieces on trains throughout the city during the early 1970s. In 1996, he appeared in the song I Messaggeri Pt.I contained in italian artist Neffa's album I Messaggeri della Dopa.

References[link]

Works cited[link]

• George, Nelson Buppies, B-boys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Black Culture. Da Capo Press. 2001. ISBN 0-306-81027-1. 
• Chang, Jeff (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42579-1.
• Castleman, Craig (1982). Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53051-1. 

External links[link]

• Adam Mansbach interview with PHASE 2
• "Writer of the Storm", Raw Vision interview with PHASE 2

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