Parameters for Understanding Uncertainty (P4UU): On Scientific Misuse, or What’s the Use of a Sonic Detective in an International Interdisciplinary Scientific Experiment?

Rebecca Collins*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Parameters for Understanding Uncertainty (P4UU) investigates how methodologies used in creative practice meet those in the physical sciences. The aim is to find innovative approaches to better communicate research processes involving invisible matter. P4UU combines research into existing art/science collaborations with a sonic inflection with field research at laboratories where physical science experiments use sound technology for dark matter detection (e.g., the Canfranc Underground Laboratory and the Laboratory of Acoustics for the Detection of Astroparticles) to find unconventional research engagement strategies. Situated accounts of the aforementioned laboratories, in a disused underground railway tunnel or below sea level, can provide new angles on often impenetrable methods of particle physicists. Fieldwork in the form of site visits, interviews, autoethnographic writing, and workshops inform the investigation.

Advanced techniques of sonic detection and acoustic engineering are currently deployed within scientific experiments deep within the Mediterranean Sea. Interdisciplinary experts use this apparatus (dubbed the ‘eyes and ears’ of the sea) to investigate microscopic (and invisible) particles that comprise our universe. The usefulness of sound and the sonic as technique offer new angles and information for scientists, engineers, and acousticians. At the same time, bioacoustic investigators make use of the data to study the bioluminescent (light-emitting) behaviors of cetaceans and other creatures found in the depths of the sea. How might an artist-researcher make use of an invitation to engage with these research processes? What might such technological advances offer to aesthetic, and sonic modes of thought?

Whilst the technical nuances of such experiments and their hard data might be of limited use or usefulness for artistic research (with the exception of those making use of data sonification/visualization) in this paper I pursue the resonances, residues, remainders, and seemingly redundant details lurking within scientific research. I share a series of qualitative accounts developed whilst embedded as artist-in-residence amidst astroparticle physicists, acoustic technicians, and engineers working on the aforementioned experiment. Casting myself as a sonic detective, a figure developed in my previous collaborative work with Dr. Johanna Linsley for Stolen Voices (2014-2020), I attune to what wanes and emerges whilst I meet with, converse, and engage (over time) with experts closely involved with sonic-inflected discoveries. Furthermore, I engage with Sara Ahmed’s notion of queer uses so as to attend to the nuances of scientific research infrastructure when put to use for a purpose other than that for which it was intended. In doing so, I argue how narrative techniques and descriptive acts can enable a means to linger or loiter, alongside underrepresented aspects of an investigation thereby making them more lively.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMend, Blend, Attend: Advancing Artistic Research
Subtitle of host publicationConference Proceedings of the 13th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research
EditorsAlex Toland, Stefanie Schwarz, Jan Willmann
PublisherBauhaus-Universität Weimar
Pages114-125
Number of pages12
Publication statusPublished - 18 Sept 2024
Event​​Parameters for Understanding Uncertainty (P4UU): Mend, Blend, Attend Society of Artistic Research Annual Conference - Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany
Duration: 1 Jul 20223 Jul 2022
https://sar2022.uni-weimar.de/about

Conference

Conference​​Parameters for Understanding Uncertainty (P4UU)
Abbreviated titleSAR
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityWeimar
Period1/07/223/07/22
Internet address

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • creative/critical writing
  • listening
  • sonic
  • performance
  • art-science
  • sound

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