Arts at CERN

The sculpture makes tangible our surrounding cosmic stream through unpredictable tones

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles originating from stars in the Milky Way and beyond. While trillions of cosmic rays hit the Earth daily, the atmosphere blocks the vast majority. The cosmic rays that go through and strike atmospheric particles create showers of secondary particles that reach the planet’s surface. As a result, an invisible flux continuously bathes all of our surroundings.

A Particular Score makes this cosmic stream tangible through real-time sound at the CERN Community Support Centre. When the sculpture detects a particle, it reacts by striking one of the 12 quartz crystal tubes, generating an unpredictable sequence of audible tones. The score thus evolves irregularly and randomly with each impact. It renders perceptibly a glimpse of a phenomenon that surrounds us and yet goes beyond us.