HALO by Semiconductor (image copyright Claudia Marcelloni)

Prof Antonella De Santo

Research Fellow Dr Mark Sutton

Professor Antonella De Santo and Dr Mark Sutton, from the Sussex team involved in the ATLAS experiment taking data at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, are excited to welcome the HALO art installation by Brighton-based artist duo Semiconductor to the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA).

CERN, also known as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. It hosts the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most powerful particle smasher ever constructed. The Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs boson was famously discovered by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations in 2012, recreates conditions that existed in our universe shortly after the Big Bang.

HALO is a large-scale installation made by renowned artist duo Semiconductor and inspired by the science of the Large Hadron Collider. With help from Sussex scientists who have been collaborating with the artists since the time of their residency at CERN in 2015, HALO makes use of ATLAS data to create a fully immersive multisensory experience that “transports” the viewer to the centre of the ATLAS detector.

After its inaugural opening as an Audemars Piguet Art Commission at Art Basel in 2018, HALO’s first UK tour is being launched at the ACCA in coincidence with the 2021 Brighton Festival. Several events are taking place during the Festival in conjunction with the HALO art exhibition, including a lecture on the science of HALO by Professor De Santo and a panel event with Semiconductor and Dr Sutton.

Dr Sutton, who has been instrumental for the artists to obtain access to the ATLAS raw data, said: “As a scientist working on the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, I found collaborating with Semiconductor to be extremely rewarding. We scientists spend a lot of time examining our data to learn about the physics of the very early universe, and it’s been great to see how Semiconductor have been able to interpret our data artistically while maintaining its integrity. For me it’s been an invaluable opportunity to engage with the ATLAS data in a new and original way and, importantly, to share that with the general public.”

Professor De Santo said: “HALO simply makes me happy. It combines two of my favourite things in the world – fundamental physics and art. Experimental physicists working at the frontiers of knowledge know that their data are beautiful, and HALO can now give everyone access to that same sense of wonder through a multisensory experience. It’s also great to see HALO finally come to Brighton, where this wonderful collaboration between science and the arts started those few years ago.”