Arts at CERN

Rottenberg’s solo exhibition borrows its title from CERN’s unique facility dedicated to antimatter research

Following its premiere at Museum Tinguely, Antimatter Factory at KunstHausWien presents an extensive insight into Rottenberg’s multifaceted oeuvre. Her surreal, kaleidoscopic visual worlds critically and humorously examine hyper-capitalism and its social and ecological impacts. The exhibition features a wide range of video works, installations, and kinetic sculptures produced between 2003 and 2024.

The exhibition’s title, Antimatter Factory, references CERN’s facility dedicated to the production and research of antimatter. Through various experiments, scientists seek to understand why the observable universe appears dominated by matter rather than antimatter. This fundamental asymmetry remains one of the key unresolved questions in physics.

Rottenberg visited CERN in 2018, drawn to exploring matter through the lens of particle physics research. Her work resonates with new materialism. This interdisciplinary field rethinks the material world by emphasising the agency of matter. It rejects anthropocentric hierarchies and highlights the relational entanglements between humans, nonhumans, and environments.

During her residency at the Laboratory, Rottenberg filmed Spaghetti Blockchain, co-commissioned by Arts at CERN. This three-channel video installation shows matter in diverse forms: vibrant silicon cylinders, colourful plastic particles reminiscent of molecular structures, and playful sculptural forms made from spaghetti and foam. These materials are dissected, reshaped, and set in motion.

In Spaghetti Blockchain, seemingly disparate worlds converge. Footage from the CERN Data Centre, the Antimatter Factory, and the ATLAS experiment are woven together with scenes of Tuvan throat singers, a potato farm in the United States, and ASMR-inspired scenarios. With absurdist satire, the film creates an allegory for contemporary life, provocatively exploring labour, technology, and matter behind seemingly immaterial processes.

Reflecting Rottenberg’s intricate visual narratives, the exhibition’s online catalogue elaborates on key themes in her work. It includes two insightful dialogues between Rottenberg and CERN scientists Gunn Khatri and Barbara Latacz. They discuss the inspirations behind Rottenberg’s film Spaghetti Blockchain, how physicists’ listen’ to antiparticles, and the unsolved questions of the matter-antimatter asymmetry.

Mika Rottenberg: Antimatter Factory at KunstHausWien runs through 10 August 2025.