µ MUOGRAPHY

Jon Butt 

Ready to collaborate with the cosmos?  

Muon particles are part of the ancient language of matter that makes up everything in existence yet are invisible to human perception. With the use of DIY sensors and LED light pulses indicating the brief presence of a muon, you will be connected to the supermassive picture of the observable universe for 2.2 microseconds. Witness cosmic art in progress as we hand over creative process to some of the oldest known particles in the universe. Each muon strike leaves a delicate trail of electrons in its wake – making a unique cosmological image form over the duration of the exhibition. Jon uses these particle detection images to score the soundtrack for the work, allowing the muons to write the music. 

What else is invisibly raining down around us? 

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Jon Butt is an artist and curator motivated by deep time, the nature of matter and the weirdness and wonder of quantum realities ruled by unseen forces and hidden energies under the surface of the everyday. Through video, photography, sculpture and site responsive works, they make art that explores the fundamentals of reality. 

Thanks to Jerry Petry and his excellent Muon Detector project on Hackster IO, and opensource software DIY Webcam Particle Detector developed by Lodovico Lappetito for  therimino.com 

Original Muon music scores developed using Olivia Jack’s PIXELSYNTH, a browser-based synthesizer for creating sounds from images and drawings, programmed using javascript and Web Audio. PIXELSYNTH is inspired by the analog ANS Synthesizer created by Evgeny Murzin in 1937 for composing musical scores. Used with permission from Olivia Jack. 

Materials: Experimental Particle Detector (Muon Subatomic Particles, cosmic rays, deep time, aluminium, brass, LED lights, micro controllers, open-source software, PC computer, modified camera sensor, geiger counters, hand-built circuitry, code, Tarantula Nebula screensaver image by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScl, Webb ERO Production Team).