Creative Statement
“Sized Matter-Perception of the Extreme Unseen”
Fermilab, summer 2005, Jan-Henrik Andersen
While
sciences propose and explain our world with measurable means, visual art and
design offers intellectual and emotional
appreciation of that which cannot be explained by any other means, measurable
or not. This freedom from the constraints of scientific conventions may broaden
our comprehension of our world, and I have taken great pleasure in freely
bridging science with design – hopefully for the better of both as they are
linked by a common beauty.
The nature of the work is to lift the
veil on the optically impossible task of visually observing subatomic particles
by translating their properties and classification, known as the Standard Model
of Subatomic Physics, into a coherent visual language. No one has ever seen,
nor will anyone ever see anything as small or fast as a Quark or a Neutrino,
one could argue that they could look like anything, if they have looks at all. On
the other hand, a translation to visual aesthetics of their properties and
behavior may offer a basis for a discussion of their visual qualities.
The work seeks to convey the order and harmony
at the very base of our world, perhaps also point to the open universal
questions and even the wonderful and unpredictable which is always prominent in
our quests for understanding.
The collaboration
with my colleagues, physicists Dr. Gordon Kane and Dr. David Gerdes, and
Professor Sherri Smith at the
We use languages; spoken, written, marked and
shaped, to communicate a wide variety of thoughts, emotions and actions. In my
work I make the argument that the spoken and written languages for the most
part convey thoughts with an intellectual content, and when we need to
illustrate emotional aspects, we often supplement the spoken or written word
with metaphors – images of thoughts. The metaphor represents the familiar and
tangible, perhaps even humorous. We feel safe and enriched because we
understand. The thought has been translated, often simplified, to suit our
common experiences. The same mode change
occur when we’re dealing with images directly, and fall short of explaining the
full sentiment of our intentions; we borrow from the object culture to
illustrate whatever narrative we’re bringing to town. We all know the
consequence of putting the cart in front of the horse.
The proposal as
seen in the Fermilab Gallery, contextualize the particles in a syntax where
properties like velocity, color, mass and spin is represented as visual
elements within an order of itself. And
perhaps yet more important; a visual perception of subatomic particles and
their interaction may open this fantastic and beautiful world and make it
conceptually available to a broader audience.
I found creative
joy in translating the physical properties into images, and more so even by
translating the images and their curvilinear geometries and properties into
objects. There is a strict order to how the curves has been developed, and by
staying true to this method, I’ve wanted to experiment with the
consequence of adding two more dimensions; the human scale and function. The aim is to activate
a broader sensory response than vision alone can provide – to look for other
venues to communicate the visual language. By balancing the body, seeking the
equilibrium we find in particle properties, either on a chair or in a little boat, one becomes aware of the physical
limitations. We’re in a space defined by the object, our body and our senses.
We experience velocity and standstill – time, energy and matter. We’re no longer indifferent, because we’re
informed by many sensory impressions. We react to the properties of our
physical world. This is not a philosophical stand, it merely points to our
world as we understand it bit by bit….
I hope that the
work will engage the audience. Perhaps even bring forth some excitement and
perhaps lift the veil of mathematical abstraction and reveal an intellectual,
emotional and physical experience.
Jan-Henrik Andersen
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