SCINTILLATOR

Scintillator uses computer-controlled electromagnets to turn inverted wine glasses into sonic resonators, similar to the vibrations created when you rub your finger along the rim of a glass.  However, the sonic composition here is activated by a cosmic ray muon detector embedded in the piece.  These fundamental subatomic particles, created through collisions with extrasolar cosmic rays, move nearly at the speed of light and pass through almost any material, including our bodies.  Scintillator illuminates and sonifies these events as they pass through the space in this room.

Scintillator was produced with the assistance of experimental physicist and Dean of Liberal Arts and Science at Pratt Institute, Helio Takai, using circuitry gifted by Carlos Scorzato of the Brazilian Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

Contact Joseph Morris for more information or to support and present his work.