Terna Prize 02 – Statement – Jonathan Feldschuh

Energy : Mankind = Future : Environment.
Proportions for new aesthetics

Jonathan Feldschuh, LHC #4, acrylic on mylar and plexiglas, 1.42 x 1.07 m, 2009


This piece is part of a series inspired by the Large Hadron Collider, an experimental physics facility that represents a massive cooperative and collaborative effort. Physicists and engineers from across Europe and the world have united to construct the most powerful particle detector ever constructed, and hope to extend mankind’s knowledge of the most basic properties of matter and energy. The piece is an abstract representation of trajectories of collisions, using splattered paint. This process-driven abstraction mirrors the experimental activities of the LHC. In my most recent work (2009) I paint on translucent mylar, which I then cut, collage, and mount on a transparent acrylic frame. The effect is one of transparency and immediacy.

The Collider project is an interesting model for the “proportion for a new aesthetics” mentioned above. The need for mankind to address the environmental issues that are pressing in on us – climate change, resource depletion, pollution and habitat loss, etc. is overwhelming. Solutions to these problems will inevitably require joint efforts that unite us with common goals that transcend our personal, local, and national interests. The pursuit of something lofty and abstract – knowledge of the ultimate constituents of matter, the rules that govern interactions of energy – takes the form of something very solid and earth-bound: miles of underground tunnels, and massive magnets and detectors.

My perspective on the LHC is quite personal – I originally trained as a physicist, and my interest was in high energy theory. If I had stayed in physics instead of shifting to art, I might well have been pulled into the efforts at CERN. Some of the scientific papers published there have listed over a thousand authors! The trajectory of physics over the past century has been astounding. It has gone from a field where a solitary genius could seemingly single-handedly open new doors of understanding (think of Einstein) to one marked by collaboration on the most massive scale. The Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bombs showed the potential for destruction in this process. Hopefully the knowledge we gain from the LHC and similar projects of exploration will be used for peaceful ends. Perhaps the discoveries made at CERN will have practical applications we cannot forsee. Without a doubt the solutions to the problems of our environment will depend on how well we can collaborate and innovate.