Wonders and tremors in the aftershocks of high energy physics
This article addresses the quality of wonder that surrounds contemporary sites of high-energy physics, and the ethical implications of seeking to engage with these sites as sources of wonderment. It focuses on three pivot points in the emergence of high-energy physics that radiate with a quality of...
| Published in: | Journal of religious and political practice |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge, Taylor & Francis
[2017]
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| In: |
Journal of religious and political practice
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| Further subjects: | B
PARTICLE physics
B Art and science B nuclear tests B quantum entanglement B science and technology studies B religious imagery B Wonder |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This article addresses the quality of wonder that surrounds contemporary sites of high-energy physics, and the ethical implications of seeking to engage with these sites as sources of wonderment. It focuses on three pivot points in the emergence of high-energy physics that radiate with a quality of uncanny awe: the first atomic test, conducted under the codename Trinity; the statue of the dancing Nataraja outside the Large Hadron Collider at CERN; and the artistic engagements with particle physics of the Australian Synchrotron's first artist-in-residence, Chris Henschke. It explores how sites of high-energy physics resonate with potent fears, stemming from the aftershocks of the first nuclear weapons tests and the ultimate unknowability of scientific experiment with powerfully destructive technologies. Drawing on Mary-Jane Rubenstein's notion of 'strange wonder' and Karen Barad's philosophical work on quantum entanglement, it seeks to explore both the troubling qualities of wonder surrounding popular discourses in high-energy physics and the potential to remake our relationships with its sites and cosmologies, focusing on artistic approaches that suggest new registers for our strange wonder. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-6107 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religious and political practice
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/20566093.2017.1351168 |