Events

Neutrino Cloud (of Probabilities)

R&D collaborations

The past three months have been intensely focused on the art and tech research and development for the neutrino [AR] installation. In May, while I was at my studio in Berlin, I took the opportunity to fly over to CERN to meet with my colleagues and do some research on neutrinos. Dr. Steven Goldfarb, has been my science mentor and collaborator since 2013 and we met to catch up. Roy MaDonald, coder on the project, joined me on this trip so we can work on ideas and a schedule to start building the AR installation inspired by neutrinos. We had several meetings with Dr. Umut Kose, whose work specializes in neutrinos for a crash course and to answer questions. Umut was a collaborator on the Fluidic Data installation in 2018 and he provided valuable information and ideas for this new collaboration. Roy and I continued working together in Berlin and by the end of the month had a design ready to build upon my return to Taos.

Augmented Reality experiments

Below are some images from the final installation, Neutrino Cloud (of Probabilities), in various stages of development. The printing and mounting was done by Barry Norris studio in Taos with AR consulting and graphic design assistance by Alison Johnson. The final metal sculpture built by master machinist, John MacArthur, holds a photomultiplier tube, used in neutrino experiments to detect neutrinos. When the viewer scans a QR code and then points their phone at the disk at the base of the sculpture, a generative animation appears through their phone which creates a feeling of wonder and awe.

Video of AR experience

Also during this time period, we have been developing spin-off AR installations that have emerged from this research. These have been working in collaboration with STEMarts youth ambassadors to engage them in this sci-art project. We presented an Augmented Reality Sky Hunt at the Los Alamos ScienceFest at the same time that the neutrino installation was showing. Both of these AR platforms now allow us to create new AR experiences to communicate science concepts.

Synopsis

Below is the synopsis for the final installation which was presented at the Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos sci-art exhibit curated by Jacquelyn Connolly.

Neutrino Cloud (of Probabilities): A dynamic, interactive augmented reality experience

Artists: Agnes Chavez, FRA Guest Artist at Fermilab, concept and design, Roy Macdonald, creative consultant, John MacArthur, Metal sculpture , Dr. Umut Kose and Innes E. Bigaran, neutrino physicists, AR consultant/graphic design: Alison Johnson

This mixed reality (AR) experience is inspired by *neutrinos—tiny subatomic particles often referred to as “ghost particles.” Despite their minimal interaction with matter, neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe. Upon activation, you’ll witness generative visualizations inspired by  the behaviors and properties of these quantum particles. The sculpture features a *photomultiplier tube (PMT) bulb, a key component in *neutrino detectors for tracking these elusive particles.

What You Will See:

Upon activating the experience, participants will see visualizations inspired by neutrino particles and their quantum behaviors dynamically floating in, around, and above the sculpture. Initially, you will encounter a *probability cloud, symbolizing the neutrinos’ state of *superposition. Tapping the screen triggers a collapse of the *wave function, marking the moment a particle is detected or measured. Each ‘collapse’ produces a particle animation and places a red vibrating dot in the room, symbolizing the participation of each individual in the wave function collapse.

 How to Interact

  1. Set your phone to lock orientation via the auto-rotate or rotate lock icon. 
  2. Scan the QR code below.
  3. Point your mobile device toward the disk image at the base of the sculpture, holding it steady for a few seconds to activate tracking.
  4. Move your phone slowly to observe the images generating live in 3D space.
  5. Tap the screen to collapse the neutrino cloud into a red vibrating dot, representing the measured particle, to record your participation.

What’s next?

Now that we have created a platform for creating AR experiences, I plan to design several AR wall pieces that will be presented in conjunction with the sculpture. For this phase I will continue conversations with Fermilab physicists, Kirsty Duffy, Grace Cummings, Luis Mendoza and Innes E. Bigaran to inform the next series of works.

Easing into the Fermilab artist residency

For those that follow this website and blog, you may have noticed I have been quite absent here. When that happens just head over to my other website/blog, stemarts.com. It just means I have been focusing on the social and educational aspect of my art practice. But this year, I am going to be returning to this website to share my research and my process as part of the Fermilab artist residency. I am honored to have been selected, allowing me the space to dive into pure physics research once again. I visited Fermilab in 2022 which inspired me to apply. I was at CERN finishing up Fluidic Data in 2019 when COVID hit. I am excited to be returning there next month to continue my research and ongoing collaborations.

In my first three months as a guest artist at Fermilab, I met virtually with Fermilab scientists Kirsty Duffy, Grace Cummings, Luis Mendoza,  Innes E. Bigaran, Tiffany Angela Fava and Supraja Balasubramania coordinated by curator, Georgia Schwender. My focus has been on neutrino particles and why they are important to our understanding of the universe.  In this time I have been learning about what makes them unique and specifically how the neutrino detectors are built to track these elusive particles

I am also looking forward to returning to my studio in Berlin to work out some new ideas that have been emerging from visits with Fermilab scientists on neutrino detectors, virtual particles and augmented reality. Thank you Georgia Schwender for curating this experience!

(x)trees@PASEO 2020

(x)trees participated in the surprise PASEO 2020 Drive-thru Projection Experience that filled the historic Taos plaza in New Mexico with over 18 projections featuring PASEO alumni artists from all over the country. For this iteration of the (x)trees Agnes collaborated with coder, Roy MacDonald from Chile. Roy is now working on new interactive features that will be presented for the next showing of (x)trees in Lisbon, Portugal. Stay tuned!
 
PASEO 2020 artists: CHiKA, Motomichi, Ollie Bell, Sasha Von Dorp, Britney King, Corwin Levi, Ruben Olguin, Cristopher Cichocki, Agnes Chavez, Lionel Cruet, Nettrice Gaskins, Alison Johnson & Thomas Vause-Digital Ant Media, Morgan Barnard, Jennifer Nev-Diaz

(I=)UNIVERSE: An intercultural sci-art exploration of the universe

(I=)UNIVERSE is a STEMarts Lab production in collaboration with Santa Fe Institute’s InterPlanetary Festival, Milagro Middle School and multiple departments at Santa Fe Public Schools, including Art, Science, Technology, and Native American Student Services. Together they coordinated an intensive, hands-on workshop that included digital technology, particle physics, and Native-Western science connections. Experts in all of these fields served as contributing scientists, artists, and storytellers throughout the project. The project included a 2-week workshop with 70 students led by an interdisciplinary team: STEMarts founder/artist, Agnes chavez, Milagro art teachers, Megan Avina and Grace Mayer, Dr. Nicole Lloyd-Ronning, LANL astrophysicist, Shane Wood, QuarkNet staff/ particle physics instructor, Steve Tamayo, Lakota artist/cultural specialist, as well as virtual visits from Geneva with Dr. Steven Goldfarb, CERN physicist and from Austria with Tagtool founder/ artist, Markus Dorninger.

(I=)UNIVERSE culminates=s with the following student performances, Due to COVID the Santa Fe Institute’s InterPlanetary Festival was cancelled.

• Innovation EXPO: Full STEAM ahead! A re-imagined and innovative take on the traditional school science fair. Student live painting performance at the Santa Fe Convention Center. February 13, 2020, 5:30pm-7:30pm.

 

STEMarts (x)change: Lisbon to New Mexico

POSTPONED DUE TO COVID

American Corner@University of Lisbon Faculty of Letters (FLUL). I will be working with Humanities students from the ‘Cultural Creative’ program to design a community outreach project based on a relevant social topic. The 2-month project will culminate with a sci-art projection installation at the American Corner space that will raise awareness to the social topic explored and outline next steps for implementing the community project. Learn more.

SAP Lab: Artist residency and collaboration

 

Agnes will be starting an artist residency in 2022 at the SAP Lab in Lisbon, Portugal, collaborating with Catarina Pombo Nabais, philosopher and founder of the SAP Lab, ‘an innovative, experimental and interdisciplinary laboratory within the Center for the Philosophy of Science of the University of Lisbon (CFCUL). Their mission is for philosophy to deeply intertwine with science and art. It aims at integrating the work of scientists and artists with the conceptual analysis which philosophy is prepared to provide.’  Visit their website for more. Catarina will be facilitating research and discussions from diverse interdisciplinary and intercultural voices and they are working on several projects to explore at the intersection of ecology, art and philosophy.

 

 

Fluidic Data@CERN Data Center

November 8, 2019 1 Arts, science

The Fluidic Data team presented the results of the inter-departmental collaboration on November 2019 at the 24th International Conference on Computing High Energy and Nuclear Physics in a presentation called Fluidic Data: When Art Meets CERN, Data Flows. The speaker was Julien LeDuc, IT specialist at the CERN Data Center. Julien was the lead technology designer for the installation and particularly for data integration and the pump system (pictured here in early stages of design) which visualizes data through colored water segments and air pockets. See gallery.

 

BIOTA@Species in Peril along the Rio Grande

September 8, 2019 Uncategorized

BIOTA was a commissioned art installation for the 516 Arts exhibition entitled Species in Peril along the Rio Grande, September- December 2019.  516 ARTS and partners presented this exhibition and series of regional public programs responding to the global biological crisis described in the new UN Report that officially state that nature’s dangerous decline is “unprecedented,” and species extinction rates are accelerating at an alarming pace. According to a recent New York Times editorial, the report says, “‘Biodiversity’ — a word encompassing all living flora and fauna — ‘is declining faster than at any time in human history,’ estimating that ‘around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades,’ unless the world takes transformative action to save natural systems.”  The artists were invited to create an installation to  generate awareness to an endangered species. BIOTA focused on microbial species found in water and soil and their vital role to the health of the planet’s ecosystem. See Gallery.

Space@PASEO 2018 Festival

September 8, 2018 5 Uncategorized

Agnes (Co-Founder of The PASEO Festival) curated the 2018 PASEO festival with the theme of SPACE.

Exploring inner and outer space, artistically, socially and scientifically. From self identity to space exploration to human impact on the environment our definition of who we are, where we come from and where we are going are in a state of flux. As powerful scientific instruments and new media tools expand our senses, allowing us to see into the farthest corners of the universe and the invisible spaces within our bodies and minds, we begin to grasp the enormous power and potential of humanity. Further, with quantum physics and astrophysics revealing an interdependent universe in line with indigenous worldviews, we have an unprecedented opportunity for intercultural exchange and cooperation. PASEO artists have created immersive and participatory installations that bring together new technologies, scientific explorations and socio-cultural themes. PASEO 2018’s festival forefronted the role of art, science and technology in contemplating our place in nature and re-imagining society. Participants’ senses were activated, curiosities stimulated, and minds transported to a wondrous universe in flux.

Curatorial contributors: Anita McKeown and Ariane Koek.

Art, astrophysics and particle accelerators: NM artists at NASA and CERN

May 28, 2018 43 Arts, STEAM, technology

 

Date and Time
Fri, June 8, 2018
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM MDT
Doors open at 5:30pm

Register now

Art, astrophysics and particle accelerators: artists working with NASA and CERN – a Santa Fe LASER talk on interplanetary art, science and technology with New Mexico artists Richard Lowenberg and Agnes Chavez.

Biocultura will present the third Leonardo Art, Science, Evening Rendezvous (LASER) Talk in Santa Fe in conjunction with the Santa Fe Institute Interplanetary Festival.

Santa Fe artist Richard Lowenberg’s talk is titled “Info/Eco (An Arts/Sciences Exploration of the Information Environment as Ecosystem)”. Richard’s presentation will include an overview of works created as part of a 1974-1984 series of NASA/Arts collaborations, including the first artist’s use of satellite communications, use of bio-sensors by dancers in environmental performances, and performers participating in astronaut gravitational simulation experiments. Richard will also present two current 1st-mile / SARC (Scientists/Artists Research Collaborations) projects: “The Energy & Information Ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau: An Arts/Sciences Field Study” and “Eco-Value Scale”, an interactive public artwork and program to balance Earth’s economy.

Agnes Chavez will present her interdisciplinary work including a collaboration with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. She currently works as Artistic Director with CERN scientists and engineers at the Data Center designing a permanent installation that will visualize real time and statistical data from the Large Hadron Collider. Agnes’ colleague Johan S. Bonilla, PhD candidate at the Center for High Energy Physics, University of Oregon will join via Skype.

Richard Lowenberg is an artist, rural tele-community planner, environmental designer and eco-cultural activist. He has dedicated his creative life to investigations, understandings and artful realization of works presenting and collaboratively setting examples for ‘an ecology of the information environment’, with resulting opportunities for development of a culturally and ecologically rooted economy’. Richard’s ‘arts-sciences-society’ involvements include networking local-global communities and involvement in international arts/sciences initiatives over 50 years. Richard is founder of 1st-Mile Institute – SARC (Scientists/Artists Research Collaborations) which has collaborated with UNM, Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, Santa Fe Institute, Leonardo, National Science Foundation’s SEAD initiative, The Internet Society, Cabine Voltaire (NL) and more.

Agnes Chavez is a new media artist, educator and co-founder of The PASEO festival in Taos New Mexico. She was an artist and Education Director for ISEA2012 and has been serving as an AmericorpsVISTA with Biocultura for the past three years developing the STEAMNM project in Northern New Mexico. She creates participatory experiences with a focus on particle physics, education and social practice. In 2009 she started the STEMarts LAB a project that applies the latest science research and technological innovations to arts and education through interdisciplinary collaborations.

Co-sponsored by Santa Fe Institute, with thanks to Currents New Media Festival.

For more information visit bioculturasantafe.com/events.