S+T+ARTS Exhibition – Arts at CERN

Arts at CERN exhibition, S+T+ARTS Grand Prize for Innovative Collaboration, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria. Photo: Noemí Carabán/CERN

The exhibition highlighted CERN’s unique environment for creativity, collaboration, and artistic inquiry

Arts at CERN was awarded the European Commission’s S+T+ARTS 2024 Grand Prize for Innovative Collaboration. This prestigious Prize celebrates the program’s efforts to foster meaningful exchanges between artists and scientists, connecting the international cultural community with science and research.

Since its founding 70 years ago, CERN has attracted renowned artists drawn to its fundamental research and unique collaborative environment. Guided by the vision that science is an integral part of contemporary culture, Arts at CERN has welcomed artists since 2012 to experience how fundamental science can address the unresolved questions about our universe through diverse programs that connect art, science, and society.

The STARTS exhibition at the Ars Electronica Festival showcased the Laboratory’s long-standing engagement with the arts and the evolution of Arts at CERN’s programs, from art residencies to commissions, exhibitions, and events.

Gianni Motti, HIGGS, In Search of the Anti-Motti, 2005. Video stills of his work at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, 5’50’’. — Gianni Motti, HIGGS, In Search of the Anti-Motti, at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, 2005, 5’50’’ (video still)

Visitors explored historical objects and archives that have advanced particle physics research, alongside conversations between artist Armin Linke and key figures of the CERN community: physicists Maria Fidecaro, Rolf Heuer, and Peter Jenni. The physicists discuss the evolving role of photography at CERN and how science-making is based on socially intricate environments based on international collaborations.

The exhibition also featured artworks resulting from artists’ research and dialogue with the Laboratory’s community. Chloé Delarue’s video installation, TAFAA – UNFOLLOW ALICE, establishes poetic and aesthetic parallels between the world of subatomic particles and the digital realm. Through science fiction writing workshops with theoretical physicists, Suzanne Treister’s Scientific Dreaming seeks to envisage hopeful futures based on hypothetical scientific breakthroughs.

Films by the artist duo Semiconductor, and artists Julius von Bismarck and Benjamin Maus, dive into their creative processes behind their art productions after their research and work during residencies. Additionally, artists Joan Heemskerk and Johanna Bruckner will discuss their artistic explorations and their exchanges with scientists, engineers, and staff in interviews during their residencies. As CERN commemorates its 70th anniversary, this exhibition highlighted its unique environment for creativity, collaboration, and artistic inquiry.