This art installation responds to ambient radioactive elements in its environment.
I made it by connecting 92 Geiger counters to LED tube lamps. Each time radiation and radioactive particles are detected by the Geiger counters, they click and cause the lights to flash momentarily. The modern chandelier is arranged based on the positions of electrons in a Uranium atom.
This modern art project is a response to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. I wanted to create a place where we can reflect on the impacts, both positive and negative, of humanity's use of atomic technologies. Also, to remind us that radiation and radioactivity are naturally occurring at the creation and continuation of life as we know it.
This cool art project took me six months of planning, designing, and assembling to complete. It's currently on view at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY through April 12th, 2015. I hope to take this artwork on tour internationally afterward.
The most difficult part of the unique art project was doing the custom aluminum fabrication all on my own. Thanks go to Josh Hadar and Tim Larsen for teaching me how to weld, and for letting me work in their metal shops.
More info: phillipstearns.com
