Join artist duo Semiconductor in conversation with the University of Southampton’s Dr Pearl John and Professor Nick Evans and as they discuss Semiconductor’s artistic practice, alongside the current John Hansard Gallery presentation HALO.
HALO is a large scale immersive artwork which embodies Semiconductor’s ongoing fascination with how we experience the materiality of nature through the lens of science and technology. Taking the form of a large cylinder, the structure houses a 360-degree projection of scientific data while an array of 384 vertical wires are played by the same data, to produce the sound.
The work draws the viewer into its centre in order to inhabit the results of particle-collisions, produced by experiments taking place at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland. HALO is an Audemars Piguet Art Commission, curated by Mónica Bello and first presented in the context of Art Basel in Basel in 2018, in collaboration with CERN.
HALO is presented by John Hansard Gallery and MAST Mayflower Studios (21-30 June 2021 at MAST) and supported by Arts Council England. The events programme is produced by Lighthouse, as part of Re-Imagine Europe. HALO was fabricated in collaboration with millimetre and Polyspace.
Biographies
Semiconductor is UK artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. Over the past twenty years of collaboration they have become known for an innovative body of work, which explores the material nature of our physical world and how we experience it through the lenses of science and technology. Their work has been exhibited internationally including at The 14th Media Art Biennale Santiago, City Gallery, New Zealand, CCCB, Barcelona, 21st Biennale of Sydney, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, ZKM, Karlsruhe, ArtScience Museum, Singapore, House of Electronic Arts, Basel, San Francisco.
Professor Nick Evans is professor of Theoretical High Energy Physics at the University of Southampton. His main research focus is strongly interacting gauge theories. Gauge theories are the powerful theories we have that describe the forces between sub-atomic particles. The quintessential example is Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force that binds quarks together into the protons and neutrons found at the centre of atoms.
Dr Pearl John works in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton as the Public Engagement Leader; promoting the study of Physics and Photonics (the science of light), to schools and colleges, and the research of the department to the public. Pearl also teaches the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme module for Physics, sending UG students into local schools to run short projects to help teach physics. She has a continuing interest in art and photonics technology, having just completed a PhD in Holography.