THE OPEN CALL FOR OUR SEASON ON DARK MATTER IS LIVE!
In 2019, Science Gallery London will delve into one of the biggest and most profound mysteries in contemporary physics – dark matter – for the season, 95% OF THE UNIVERSE IS MISSING.
Can we know something exists when it has never been observed? Is this a problem when it makes up most of the mass in the universe? We want your ideas that will interrogate these questions, whether it be through existing and new artworks; proposals for workshops, music and performance nights, film screenings; or discussions that critically and experimentally engage with some of the season’s key themes.
The season will explore the mind-bending concept of dark matter, which although unseen makes up for over a quarter of the matter in the universe, and will feature a curated exhibition in our brand-new gallery space, alongside a dynamic event programme taking place in the Gallery theatre, outdoor courtyard and studio spaces.
Normal matter accounts for a mere 5% of the stuff that exists in the universe, and in contrast, dark matter comprises over a quarter of the cosmos. Unlike normal matter it is invisible – not reflecting or absorbing light – and it is everywhere! Scientists believe that billions of dark matter particles are passing through your body every second.
The ever-elusive dark matter has been hunted by scientists for nearly a century, but it has never been directly observed. However, theories like gravitational lensing - the process by which the light travelling between us and a distant source appears to ‘bend’ around dense objects that lie between the points - persuade us that it exists, and could function as a kind of cosmic scaffold, holding the luminous galaxies of our universe in place.
95% OF THE UNIVERSE IS MISSING will be a scientific and philosophical investigation into the nature of what reality is or isn’t, using the theory of dark matter as a starting point for exploration, experimentation and maybe even more questions!
To submit your ideas and for further infomation to the open call, go to: https://opencall.sciencegallery.com/95-universe-missing
The curatorial advisors for the season will be:
Martin Clark – Director at Camden Arts Centre
Regine Debatty – Writer, curator and founder of the blog We Make Money Not Art
Prof. Malcolm Fairbairn – Theoretical Physicist, King’s College London
Dr. Daniel Glaser – neuroscientist and Director, Science Gallery London
Carey Young – Artist
Gary Zhexi Zhang – Artist and writer
The image shows XENON1T, one of the world's most sensitive detector for dark matter at Gran Sasso Laboratory, Italy. Image credit and copyright: Enrico Sacchetti. This photo cannot be used without prior permission by the photographer.
April 18, 2018