Matter and Time II

Issue 88 March 2025

THE SKETCHBOOK AND THE COLLIDER: Drawing Links between Fine Art and Particle Physics

During a residency at the University of Birmingham working with award winning particle physicist Professor Kostas Nikolopoulos in 2017 artist Ian Andrews made transformational changes to his practice creating the project ‘The Sketchbook and the Collider which seeks to establish equivalents between the interaction of fundamental particles and the language of drawing. He has since delivered 16 exhibition/events and 40 workshops, including a solo exhibition at the Forum Exposition Bonlieu, Annecy, France in October 2022, following which Ian was invited to talk at the International Particle Physics Outreach Group 25th annual conference at CERN in Geneva.

Chris Booth: Sculpture into Ecology

Chris Booth is a sculptor who works closely with the land, earth forms, and indigenous peoples of the region(s) where he creates his monumental sculptural art works. His way of working emphasizes communication and exchange between indigenous and colonial cultures and the creation of meaningful environmental art works. In this interview with art and ecology author, John K. Grande, he discusses his ideas and work.

‘Dark stars’: dark matter may form exploding stars – and observing the damage could help reveal what it’s made of

Andreea Font is a Reader in Theoretical Astrophysics, Liverpool John Moores University.

“I am a theoretical cosmologist and my interests are in the formation and evolution of galaxies, in particular in the formation of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. To this aim, I build computer simulations that follow the evolution of Milky Way-type galaxies since their birth until the present time.
I am particularly interested in making detailed comparisons between cosmological simulations of the Milky Way and the most up-to-date observational data in our Galaxy, for example, the data obtained from the Gaia satellite. Examples of my recent work include modelling of stellar haloes of Milky Way-type galaxies and of satellite dwarf galaxies orbiting these systems.
I also have an interest in deciphering the nature of dark matter and, to this aim, I develop models that help us distinguish between various possible dark matter particle candidates using cosmological simulations.”

How the science of tiny timescales could speed up computers and improve solar cell technology

Professor Carla Figueira de Morisson Faria is a specialist in theoretical strong-field laser-matter interaction at the Dept of Physics & Astronomy, University College London (UCL). Since the mid-1990s, she has been developing theoretical models for several phenomena in this context, using both analytical and numerical methods. Dr. Faria has over 100 publications in this research area, in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and has participated in several conferences in Optical Physics, in many of which as an invited speaker. She is also a referee for several optics journals (Optics Communications, JOSA B, Journal of Modern Optics and Optics Letters), and has various collaborations with leading groups in the field. She also actively collaborates with scientists in other research areas, such as quantum optics and mathematical physics.

The earliest galaxies formed amazingly fast after the Big Bang. Do they break the universe or change its age?

Sandro Tacchella is an astrophysicist working at the Department of Physics (Cavendish Laboratory) and at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology of the University of Cambridge. Before joining the University of Cambridge in 2022, he was Assistant Professor at the Physics Department of UNIST in Ulsan, Korea. From 2017-2021, he was a CfA Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, USA. He has received his Ph.D. from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in 2017.
Sandro’s long-range scientific goal is to understand the physics of the formation and evolution of galaxies and black holes across cosmic time. Specifically, he investigates the physical mechanisms that govern the formation of the first galaxies in the early universe, the buildup of the bulge and disk components in galaxies, and the cessation of star formation in massive galaxies. He exploits cutting-edge multi-wavelength observational data obtained with some of the most advanced telescopes on ground and in space. He uses and develops analytical and cosmological numerical models to shed light on the physical properties of galaxies. Sandro is also heavily involved in the new James Webb Space Telescope, playing a key role both in the data processing of the NIRCam instrument and in projects aimed at detecting galaxies formed in the early Universe and at characterising their primeval properties.

If we fully engage with how generative AI works, we can still create original art

Dr Anthony Downey is Professor of Visual Culture (Birmingham City University), where his research and teaching focuses on practice-based research, Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer vision and machine learning, digital methodologies, and post-disciplinary models of knowledge production.
Anthony’s most recent book, ‘Trevor Paglen: Adversarially Evolved Hallucinations’ (Sternberg Press, 2024), outlines the extent to which so-called “hallucinations” reveal systemic biases in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Recent and forthcoming publications include ‘Decolonizing Vision: Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmic Anxieties & Aerial Warfare’ (MIT Press, 2026); ‘Creative Endings: Visual Cultures, Generative Artificial Intelligence, and the Return of the Uncanny’ (Routledge Companion to Visual Culture, 2026); ‘AI as Alibi: Algorithmic Models of Automated Death’ (Digital War, 2025); ‘Algorithmic Predictions and Pre-emptive Violence’ (Digital War, 2024) and ‘The Return of the Uncanny: Artificial Intelligence and Estranged Futures’ (Visual Studies, 2024). Anthony is currently co-editing the first Special Journal Collection on AI and Memory for Memory, Mind & Media (Cambridge University Press).
Anthony sits on the editorial boards of Third Text (Routledge), Digital War (Palgrave Macmillan), Memory, Mind & Media (Cambridge University Press) and is the founder and series editor for Research/Practice (Sternberg Press).

The Art-Science Symbiosis

‘The Art-Science Symbiosis’ book outlines new approaches to understand current scientific practice in general and art-science in particular, showcasing how contemporary art can provide a unique perspective on the meaning and potential of collaboration. The book explores the different scopes of the art- science practice and 22 art-science works from all over the world, including interviews and descriptions by the same art-scientists.