Cosmic Drums: Where art illustrates science
Invisible radioactive particles from our sun and from stars beyond are passing through the atmosphere, through buildings, and even us humans every few seconds.
Charlie Hooker, professor of sculpture in the Faculty of Arts, has worked with physicists to create a sculpture which makes these particles not only visible but audible too.
He has linked Geiger counters to drums and each time a radioactive particle is picked up by one of the counters it is registered as a drum beat and causes water on top of the drums to ripple.
Lying between the two drums is a trough containing 11,000-year-old sediment from the bottom of a Norwegian fjord, part of the art work which helps demonstrates a continuum of time.
The sculpture, called TIMELINE, is the result of two years of collaboration with scientists and represents two disciplines coming together to create one art work aimed at helping explain one of the mysteries that surround us all.
