The Visual Collider

In May 1, 2011, the Large Hadron Collider in France – according to a press release – had uncovered the much sought-after subatomic particle. The God particle is the pet name for the Higgs boson.

Leading up to this event, on November 29, 2009, billions of subatomic particles were smashed together in nano-seconds inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, designed to mimic the first moments of the Big Bang, “bringing new understanding of the primordial universe”.

Thousands of scientists worked for decades to achieve this scientific spectacle, “challenging those who seek confirmation of established knowledge, and those who dare to dream beyond the paradigm.”

Inspired and intrigued by the Large Hadron Collider mega project, Nina Czegledy and Marcus Neustetter set out to create a visual collider for the images and impressions they produce individually.

At the actual Collider every function including research, development and production, is based on principles and systems. In contrast our method is spontaneous, immediate and intentionally unsystematic.

Nevertheless there are significant junctures. LHC is an immense scientific mission – paralleling our deep interest in the intersection of arts, science and technology.

While in the sciences it is prudent to build on fundamental facts with analytical precision, in reality these investigations are often permeated with the exploration of the unknown, reaching unexpected revelations.

“In our practice working with the bizarre, traveling towards unpredictable destinations is a regular pursuit. In science a negative experimental result might become as valid as an expected outcome.”

These unexpected results including happy accidents often lead to significant alternate solutions or theories. The adjacent images presented in this exhibition reveal unconventional interpretationsfrequently through unforeseen collisions.

By employing a personal approach to the Visual Collider we challenge mega-projects such as the actual LHC, asking atypical questions concerning the experimental smashing together of information whether in the form of photographic light or protons.