San Francisco Art Institute

Remaking the Universe using Particle Physics and Art is presented by the Bay Area Science Festival in conjunction with the exhibition Think Art-Act Science, on view at the San Francisco Art Institute through November 12. 

As part of the Swiss artists-in-labs program, Christian Gonzenbach completed an immersive residency in the lab of Martin Pohl at the University of Geneva and at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The resulting work QUARC (Quantum Art Crystal) is a mechanical random generator, symbolizing the interaction of particles and their surrounding space. During the collaborative process it became apparent that for both the scientist and the artist, observation, reflection, and experimentation were the underlying and fundamental principles of their work. With QUARC Gonzenbach has created a powerful image and metaphor for the mysteries that seemingly will always surround the human quest for reasonable answers to unresolved questions of our universe.