Resonance

Background Resonance is a fundamental phenomenon in nature, found on all scales from atomic to cosmic. Subatomic particles such as the Higgs boson are so ephemeral, existing for femtoseconds, they are termed resonances. On the cosmic scale, scientists are searching for Big Bang resonations called "Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations", of giga-parsec wavelengths. Bringing the two extremes of scale together in art is a challenge - Ryoji Ikeda's “micro|macro” is an example (which relies on "big AV" as well as "big data" but was criticized for this); conversely John Latham's sculptural abstractions are critiqued as being "idiosyncratic cosmology". Using resonance to connect such scales has not been previously undertaken. Contribution “Resonance” uses cymatic vibrations in water to manifest data from particle collision resonances in the LHC experiment. In collaboration with CERN physicist Wolfgang Adam, I turned and tuned data from the CMS detector into audio. I filtered the sonified data in a way that the cymatic forms produced are unique audio-visual signatures of the particle resonances. This materially and conceptually engages with both the science and the poetics of this phenomena. Significance This project is unique in that it has been developed with the world’s leading physicists, and uniquely encompasses the nature of resonance, both materially and conceptually. It is also a culmination of my ANAT Synapse synchrotron residencies. The work premiered at "Spectra", a major exhibition of projects developed over 20 years of the "SYNAPSE" residency program of ANAT and the Australian Council for the Arts, at University of South Australia (4-26.10.18). I was selected by Experimenta and ANAT (with 10 other artists) for having the "best research and creative work being produced through interdisciplinary collaborations". J. Parsons (Director, Experimenta) states in the catalogue, “Resonance gives visual expression to a phenomenon seen at both the microscopic and macroscopic scale.”