Geiger Counters detect radioactive decay that comes in the form of x-rays, alpha particles and fast-moving electrons or positrons (beta emission). When charged particles enter the tube of the Geiger counter probe a small charge is created and in these works, sends a unique signal to a computer, which responds by generating the speed, color, placement, and transitions in the three projections. Unlike work that uses random number sequences, which are not 100% random, these works harnesses uranium’s decay to create “perfect randomness”. The time between ticks of the Geiger counter is the wholly unknown that makes up the fabric of the universe. It is the emptiness and unknowability of the machine. The computer translates that sublime unpredictability into a new sublime of information by taking the truly random intervals and making them true random numbers. Confronting the fact that no tick interval can be predicted is like accepting the reality of a vacuum: it exposed the limits of language and imagination. To listen to the ticks is to listen to the universe unwinding.
Dice Field
Simulated random dice throws generated in response to radioactive decay: Streams of ticks from the Geiger counter are turned into random numbers and flip dice in this grid. Einstein famously said God does not play with dice in his rejection of quantum mechanics' core principles of probability. So it seems natural to express the fundamental unknowability of the universe that can be found most clearly in the atoms of Uranium with turning dice.
Also Dice Tunnel
Simulated random dice throws generated in response to radioactive decay: Streams of ticks from the Geiger counter are turned into random numbers and flip dice in this grid. Einstein famously said God does not play with dice in his rejection of quantum mechanics' core principles of probability. So it seems natural to express the fundamental unknowability of the universe that can be found most clearly in the atoms of Uranium with turning dice.
Also Dice Tunnel
Drift
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. A miasmic cloud of light forms and reforms as a low hum drones. All aspects, color, shape, sound and timing are a response to the perfect randomness detected by the Geiger counter, creating an aurora borealis out of decay.
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. A miasmic cloud of light forms and reforms as a low hum drones. All aspects, color, shape, sound and timing are a response to the perfect randomness detected by the Geiger counter, creating an aurora borealis out of decay.
Dance of Perfect Randomness
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. The Dance of Perfect Randomness uses a news photo of Iranian artists performing at the celebration of the enrichment of uranium in 2007 as its base. This image of beatific admiration for the definitive symbol of 20th and 21st century power, technology and terror reminds us of a similar cultural response in post-WWII America. The piece uses the photo’s color and imagery but frees the doves to respond to the signals sent by Geiger counter, creating a series of endless unique images that evokes religious painting. For every tick, which signals a particle of radioactive decay, a bird is released.
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. The Dance of Perfect Randomness uses a news photo of Iranian artists performing at the celebration of the enrichment of uranium in 2007 as its base. This image of beatific admiration for the definitive symbol of 20th and 21st century power, technology and terror reminds us of a similar cultural response in post-WWII America. The piece uses the photo’s color and imagery but frees the doves to respond to the signals sent by Geiger counter, creating a series of endless unique images that evokes religious painting. For every tick, which signals a particle of radioactive decay, a bird is released.
Barny's Next Step After Canvas
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. Based directly on Barnett Newman’s “Vir Heroicus Sublimis” (1950-51), Barney’s Next Step Without Canvas dynamically forms digital versions of the iconic abstract painting. Barnett Newman’s concern with the sublimity of time and the effect of the red as it washes over the observer is re-literalized while the artist introduces a new version of the sublime, the absolute and ineluctable randomness produced by the decay of uranium.
Digital work, executable file, Geiger counter, Vaseline glass source, analog-digital converter, computer Non-repeating forms in color and light responding to radioactive decay interpreted by the software. Based directly on Barnett Newman’s “Vir Heroicus Sublimis” (1950-51), Barney’s Next Step Without Canvas dynamically forms digital versions of the iconic abstract painting. Barnett Newman’s concern with the sublimity of time and the effect of the red as it washes over the observer is re-literalized while the artist introduces a new version of the sublime, the absolute and ineluctable randomness produced by the decay of uranium.
Radiation Portrait
Images of works responding to the radioactive decay from the artist after being injected with Technetium-99.
Images of works responding to the radioactive decay from the artist after being injected with Technetium-99.
Demon Collisions
A grid of 144 sprites representing the 49 Androgynous Daemons expand across a hyperbolic "plane" (Poincare Disk). The piece is driven by radioactive decay measured with a Geiger counter. The Geiger counter responds when a highly charged particle (alpha or beta particle) causes a voltage change in the sensor. This results in a “tick”. The piece has been written so that when a tick is registered it changes the color of one of the demons (chosen by computer generated random number). If the voltage (radioactivity / multiple decay) is above a certain level the sprite is transformed into a Cherubim and the Name is Chosen from a pool of the 49Androgynous Daemons, Angels and 12 Gates, displayed with an expanding ring or exploding flare. Intermittent trails are generated to track the sprites (which begin as blue) and the flares (which are red at first).
As the animation follows a geometric path of motion, the spectator senses a level of safety and order. However, this perceived “order” is not genuine. In reality, the mechanism of control is chaos itself. The counter’s ticks are distinctly audible, subconsciously rousing the audience’s anxiety
A grid of 144 sprites representing the 49 Androgynous Daemons expand across a hyperbolic "plane" (Poincare Disk). The piece is driven by radioactive decay measured with a Geiger counter. The Geiger counter responds when a highly charged particle (alpha or beta particle) causes a voltage change in the sensor. This results in a “tick”. The piece has been written so that when a tick is registered it changes the color of one of the demons (chosen by computer generated random number). If the voltage (radioactivity / multiple decay) is above a certain level the sprite is transformed into a Cherubim and the Name is Chosen from a pool of the 49Androgynous Daemons, Angels and 12 Gates, displayed with an expanding ring or exploding flare. Intermittent trails are generated to track the sprites (which begin as blue) and the flares (which are red at first).
As the animation follows a geometric path of motion, the spectator senses a level of safety and order. However, this perceived “order” is not genuine. In reality, the mechanism of control is chaos itself. The counter’s ticks are distinctly audible, subconsciously rousing the audience’s anxiety
Demon Chaser
This piece begins with forty-nine androgynous cherubim mentioned in the Gnostic Gospels but the organizing principle of this piece is radiation, the ultimate and most natural source of randomness. The piece is driven by radioactive decay measured with a Geiger counter. The Geiger counter responds when a highly charged particle (alpha or beta particle) causes a voltage change in the sensor. This results in a “tick”. The piece has been written so that when a tick is registered it triggers one cherub to transcend their current state and become an activated cherub. The transformation is noted by color, shape change and the reaction of the other cherubim, which orient themselves toward the elevated cherubim, accepting it as their orbital center until the next radioactive ping. The scale of the other cherubim is proportional to their proximity to the elevated cherubim. Activated cherubim revert to their original colors if they are activated again. The cycle, driven by an endless source of randomness (radiation) is repeated endlessly.
This piece begins with forty-nine androgynous cherubim mentioned in the Gnostic Gospels but the organizing principle of this piece is radiation, the ultimate and most natural source of randomness. The piece is driven by radioactive decay measured with a Geiger counter. The Geiger counter responds when a highly charged particle (alpha or beta particle) causes a voltage change in the sensor. This results in a “tick”. The piece has been written so that when a tick is registered it triggers one cherub to transcend their current state and become an activated cherub. The transformation is noted by color, shape change and the reaction of the other cherubim, which orient themselves toward the elevated cherubim, accepting it as their orbital center until the next radioactive ping. The scale of the other cherubim is proportional to their proximity to the elevated cherubim. Activated cherubim revert to their original colors if they are activated again. The cycle, driven by an endless source of randomness (radiation) is repeated endlessly.
