The Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías (IGFAE), a research centre of the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Xunta de Galicia, will open this Friday 21 June at the Igrexa da Universidade, in Santiago de Compostela, the exhibition Instruments of Vision, by the artist Armin Linke. The project is the result of the IGFAE’s collaboration with Arts at CERN, the art programme of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, on the 25th anniversary of the IGFAE and the 70th anniversary of the founding of CERN. The exhibition, which will remain open until 28 August, is curated by Mónica Bello (Santiago de Compostela, 1973), director of Arts at CERN.

Instruments of Vision gathers more than 20 years of work by the artist Armin Linke (Milan, 1966), based on the observation of research carried out in large experimental infrastructures such as CERN, the Laboratori Nazionali di Gran Sasso (L’Aquila, Italy), and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck (Austria). In addition, for this occasion, Armin Linke has produced a series of works that show the scientific work of IGFAE staff, present in some of the most important international scientific collaborations in particle physics, such as the LHCb experiment at CERN.

O artista Armin Linke retratou para esta exposición algúns exemplos do traballo científico desenvolvido polo persoal do IGFAE, que forma parte do experimento LHCB do CERN. Crédito das imaxes: Armin Linke.

Armin Linke has portrayed for “Instruments of Vision” some examples of the scientific work carried out by the staff of the IGFAE, which is part of CERN’s LHCb experiment. Image credit: Armin Linke.

Instruments for observing the fundamental elements of matter

The exhibition reflects on how, in recent decades, the combination of technical advances and scientific discoveries “has revolutionised our perception of space, time and matter”, according to the curator Mónica Bello. Thanks to this progress, the scientific community has developed highly complex instruments that make it possible to reveal how the most fundamental elements of matter works.

In the unique setting of the Igrexa da Universidade, Linke’s proposal invites the public, through 16 works, to approach these research spaces, capturing the dynamics of particle physics laboratories. In this way, Instruments of Vision also reflects on the way in which science is not a solitary effort; on the contrary, it is seen as a collective endeavour involving human actors and socially intertwined environments, comprising research personnel, instruments, artefacts and laboratory materials”, emphasises Mónica Bello.

This project is part of the commitment made in recent years by the IGFAE’s ArtLab, with the aim of opening new spaces of connection with society, and in line with the promotion of responsible research and innovation. Instruments of Vision also contributes to the dialogue between contemporary art and the IGFAE’s various lines of research.

Opening and parallel activities

The exhibition will be open from Friday, June 21th. The following day, Saturday 22nd, at 12 noon, the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (CGAC) will host the conversation Science and the contemporary condition, with the participation of Armin Linke, Mónica Bello and Carlos Salgado. In addition, guided tours open to the general public will be organised during the opening period of the exhibition.