- Tags
- Exhibition
- Author
- Ana Prendes
Image Capital, an artistic project by Armin Linke and Estelle Blaschke, explores the history and the present of photography as information technology
Since his first visit to CERN in 2000, Linke’s photographic work has exposed the unique aspects of scientific practice, capturing the intricate networks of researchers, instruments, and spaces that profoundly shape our understanding of the world. A recent focus on Linke’s work has been the essential role of photography in the development of science, both as a way of producing images and as a recording instrument. In doing so, photography has enabled us to visualise processes that the human eye cannot perceive, such as the collisions of subatomic particles.
Image Capital takes the form of an exhibition in museums throughout Europe and a digital publication. Over several visits CERN, Linke explored the history of imaging technologies in particle physics through interviews with key figures in the CERN community, including Rolf-Dieter Heuer, former CERN Director-General; and Maria Fidecaro, an experimental physicist who joined CERN in 1957. In the films, they discuss the photographic processes of early detection technologies, the role of intuition in science, and the interdependence between discovery and technological progress.
The museum exhibitions feature images of the LExan Bubble Chamber loaned from the CERN archives. Dating from 1981, the photographs of the Bubble Chamber remind us of the first methods used to visualise and create evidence of subatomic particles. Through these records, the project alludes to the role of photographs in a larger scheme of knowledge production in which images hold a central role.
In addition, the exhibitions feature photographs taken by Armin Linke during his recent visits to CERN, including pictures of the Data Centre, the CERN Control Room, a model of an ALICE event sensor and various close-up images of the LHC’s sensor cabling. This collection raises the question of photographs’ relationship with material infrastructures and of how they contribute to making these infrastructures visible and accessible.
The Image Capital exhibition has toured to Museum Folkwang, Essen (9 September–11 December 2022), Fondazione MAST, Bologna (22 September 2022–8 January 2023), Centre Pompidou in Paris (27 September 2023—26 February 2024) and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Frankfurt (13 October 2023—21 January 2024).
