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Cosmic Field (3.7mHz)
2023
Hi-hat cymbals played by cosmic rays through internal electronics
Dimensions variable

First discovered by Victor Hess in 1912, cosmic rays are extremely small, high energy particles that originate from the sun and stars beyond our solar system. After passing through the vast reaches of space they enter the earth’s atmosphere, colliding with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and breaking down into electrons, positrons, muons, and pions, which pass through our environment and us at an astounding speed and frequency.

A group of modified hi-hat cymbals register the impact of individual cosmic rays, transforming the invisible particles into audible impacts, cycling between periods of activity and silence every 4’33” giving voice to the ambient sound of the space and also the ambient presence of the cosmic rays.

Realised with the support of Seisma Magazine. Developed in dialogue with Bill Chaplin Head of School and head of the Solar & Stellar Physics Research group at the School of Physics and Astronomy at Birmingham.