Spanning the borders of France and Spain near Geneva, about 600 feet underground lies 17 miles of tunnel lined with magnets that will propel subatomic particles (Hadrons) in opposite directions near the speed of light. The instrument is the Large Hadron Collider and the scientist’s involved hope to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental building blocks of all things on our planet as well as in the universe.
These physicists postulate that they will be able to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang by colliding these particles head-on at very high energy. Through this collision they are hoping to find/create the theoretical Higgs particle. This is commonly referred to as “the God particle”. Discovering this “God Particle” could potentially shed light on the mystery of how we all came to be, establishing the origin story of origin stories.
The LHC has gripped the imagination of peoples the world over and the opinions on it run the gamut. Some have embraced the LHC and the possibility of a deeper understanding of our physical world and the universe, and there are others that have labeled it as a Doomsday machine with the popular theory that the discovery of the Higgs will be synonymous with creating a Black Hole on Earth.
Adding fuel to the active imaginations of the anxious public are the numerous setbacks the LHC has encountered before reaching its zenith. From a magnet dislodging itself somewhere in the 17 miles of tunnel, to an errant baguette dropped by a bird on the outside machinery causing overheating. Some have gone as far as to suggest that saboteurs from the future have traveled through time to thwart the LHC from causing imminent destruction.
My calculated exploration of the LHC resulted in developing my own capacity for self-awareness in the moment where an impulse to a specific kind of mark making revealed itself. Something 180 degrees from the painting I had been working on for the past year.
Sit silently and listen.
Be open throughout the day to new thoughts, feelings, impulses, or desires—openings—that may be the Inner Divine Spirit’s response to your seeking." -Mark Vernon
Gibbs Rounsavall
LHC and the Search for the Higgs Boson
enamel on hardboard
2009
Gibbs Rounsavall's website
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