particle physics – MA Art and Science

CERN has been a place of pilgrimage for scientists from around the world since 1954 and, more recently, they have been joined by artists. A group of over twenty MAAS colleagues were privileged to spend four days in the company of our hosts, Michael Hoch and Andy Charalambous, exploring the site of the vast and the minuscule. We are grateful to them and to all the others who supported them in making the trip such a success.

Lake Geneva on the way in..

Presentation in the earliest particle accelerator at CERN

Michael Hoch, our guide on site

Where anti-matter was first observed – for the tiniest fraction of a second

Outside the public exhibition centre…

…and part of the ‘Star Trek’ exhibition inside

Exploring a section of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) re-constructed above ground

It’s not all high tech though. A gift from the Indian government

Michael leads us down 100m to the Compact Muon Solonoid Detector (CMS)

Selfie central in front of CMS where the Higgs Boson was discovered!

The bank of detectors surrounding the LHC where protons collide

Andy has been associated with CERN for many years. Here he poses with his work at the CMS site

Our visit was rounded off with a performance riffing on science vs belief at the IdeasSquare

All photographs © Phil Barton 2020

And the last word goes to Molly Mcleod responding to the trip in words and images:

Breath holding, brain drain.

Is a particle an object or an event? Your perception does not effect their behaviour.

Contact inhibition, vague but exciting.

Strip away the layers to find the primordial mass.

Following the annual research study trip to CERN in January 2019, a series of international exhibits, sponsored by CERN across Europe, featured works by MA Art and Science artists. Andy Charalambous, a longtime CERN collaborator and Visiting Tutor on MA Art and Science, spearheaded the exhibitions in coordination with Michael Hoch of Art@CMS. This outreach initiative of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, has provided numerous opportunities for MA Art and Science students across the continent.

From May to November 2019, our artists joined colleagues from across Europe in a series of exhibits, including in Geneva, Switzerland, at CERN headquarters; in Ghent, Belgium, at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK); and in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the Sofia Tech Park.

Curated by MA Art and Science students, the exhibits provided exceptional opportunities for collaboration with scientists and fellow artists, exposure to broader arts communities in Europe, and the chance to build long-term relationships going forward.

: Origin Poetics poster

Exhibition, CERN headquarters, July 2019. Hannah Brown’s work in foreground.

: Exhibition space at KASK building in Ghent. Diane Wingate’s work in the foreground : Disregard # 3- 2019, Screen print on paper , 70 x 100cm.

Andy Charalambous’s work in foreground.


CSM Art & Science student and alumni exhibition at CERN during the Open Days event at the CMS experiment. Pictured in foreground, Mariana Heilmann’s work from her Energy Series – biro and acrylic on wooden panel.


Exhibition at Sophia. Yang Li’s work in foreground: Artificial Amber.


ORIGIN POETICS “Zwarte Zaal”, Exhibition, KASK, Ghent, July 2019 (Lois Bentley’s triangular sculpture: Magnetic Resonance – triangulated sheet steel, collaged UV print, neodymium magnets.

Posts

CERN: January 2020

CERN travelling exhibition programme