The three concrete blocks CERN installed to contain waste at the CMS experiment were ugly and needed paint, according to Niels Dupont-Sagorin, who is in charge of safety at the site. But a quote from contractors for a basic white coat of paint turned out to be pricey. So, he thought, why not make the paint job an artistic investment? A few months later, the site now sports two physics-themed outdoor frescoes done by a local graffiti artist, with one design by a retired CMS researcher.
“My idea was to ask some graffiti artists because I’m from the suburbs of Paris and into street art,” Dupont-Sagorin said. But here on the Swiss-French border, “I didn’t actually know at which door to knock.”
Then one day, while driving from the Meyrin, Switzerland, campus over to the CMS site, Dupont-Sagorin saw something at a roundabout that made him stop. A man was spray painting a billboard with information about an upcoming event in a way Dupont-Sagorin quite liked. He stopped and asked if the man did this work for hire. Indeed, the painter was a freelance artist who goes by the street name Loodz [pictured above with Dupont-Sagorin]. They exchanged information, and Dupont-Sagorin went home to check out Loodz’s website.
“Immediately, I noticed he was good,” Dupont-Sagorin said. “But he’s paid, you know, not a graffiti terrorist.”
He sent Loodz a picture of the blank concrete blocks and also took the opportunity to send a shot of another long blank wall at the entrance to the CMS Control Room.
Loodz sent back some proposal sketches. Dupont-Sagorin was happy with one of them, a dark sketch of the universe dotted with tiny white stars. But the second design lacked something; he thought a more CERN-specific piece would be more fitting.
He asked for suggestions from Michael Hoch, a CMS physicist and himself a curator-creator of many an art project at the experimental site. Hoch knew just whom to ask about the wall: now-retired CMS researcher Sergio Cittolin.
In 1994, Cittolin made a design depicting the evolution of the universe after the Big Bang. This was first used for LHC outreach on a “magic box” toy, a Jacobs-ladder-like cube whose sides flap open never-endingly to reveal inner designs. Later he revamped the sketch into one long image that was adapted into a banner on the CMS website.
Hoch thought Sergio’s creation would work perfectly on the blank wall by the CMS control room. Dupont-Sagorin agreed, noting that its origins also connected to the experiment nicely. With Sergio’s permission, he sent high-definition photos of the banner to Loodz, who merged them with photos of the wall in order to plan the final piece.
Funding ultimately came from the CMS Outreach office and the Experiment Area Manager in the Engineering Department. Loodz did all the art himself, entirely in spray paint, and finished both the wall and then the concrete blocks of the waste area in just 10 days.
“I’m really happy with it,” Dupont-Sagorin said. “I’d like to have money to do it elsewhere.” He has a keen personal interest in outreach and even works as a CERN tour guide on the side. “The shape of your message, your presentations – everything you do is important,” he said.
2011年8月7日星期日
The Island's Olympic contenders
One year from today in the land of stiff upper lips, dreary skies and stout ales, more than 40 Island athletes will be among the Canadian team competing in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games from July 27 to Aug. 12 in London.
Top Island athletes are preparing to fulfil a lifetime of dreams.
The Island's contribution to the Canadian Summer Olympics team has historically, on a per-capita basis, been extraordinary. That's largely because the opportunity to train year-round in a mild climate has attracted elite athletes and made this a hub for national team training centres.
As a result, impressive numbers of home-grown Island athletes have in turn been inspired by what they see going on around them and have aspired to the Games themselves, with hundreds of Islanders making it over the years.
Support facilities, such as the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence on the Camosun College Interurban campus, have sprung up as a result of all this top-level sporting activity in the region.
Qualification is on-going and the Canadian team is far from set, but one year-out, here are the Top-20 Island story-lines to look for on the road to the 2012 London Summer Games.
1 RYAN COCHRANE SWIMMING
After the bronze medal as a 19year-old in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, followed by gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and silvers at the 2009 and 2011 world championships, expectations will be high on this Victorian's sinewy shoulders.
But standing in the way of a golden ending to the tale is world-record holder Sun Yang of China. The Yang-Cochrane duel will be among the most compelling in London.
2 DAVID CALDER, SCOTT FRANDSEN ROWING
This Victoria pair, silver medallists at Beijing in 2008, will also be under considerable pressure to take the next step to the top of the podium. They aren't shying from the challenge and have labelled their quest: "Turning Olympic silver to gold."
A confident pair, but hardly cocky, theirs will be a pursuit worth watching.
"It's a special situation and we're working and putting in the sweat hard every day to close that gap in London," said Calder, the father of two who has made a personal financial sacrifice by taking a two-year leave of absence from his job with the B.C. government to follow his dreams to London.
"We know we can go so much faster and are looking ahead to a great year of training."
The London Olympic trials for rowing are later this month in Bled, Slovenia.
3 LINDSAY JENNE RICH ROWING
Canada has notoriously had a bad rate of converting world championship gold to Summer Olympic gold. But this Claremont grad, who barely missed making the team for Beijing, is now defending world champion in lightweight and looks great for London.
4 SIMON WHITFIELD TRIATHLON
Can he possibly come through for a third Olympic medal at age 37? He was previously underestimated at both Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008. There is something about the glaring spotlight of the Olympics that brings out the best in this legendary Victorian.
Is there anything left to draw from in that seemingly magic well? That question will be answered in London.
5 GEOFF KABUSH MAX PLAXTON MOUNTAIN BIKING
Not yet a golden oldie like Whitfield, the veteran and steady Kabush, a UVic mechanical engineering graduate from Courtenay, is looking to go out a medallist in his third Olympics.
Top Island athletes are preparing to fulfil a lifetime of dreams.
The Island's contribution to the Canadian Summer Olympics team has historically, on a per-capita basis, been extraordinary. That's largely because the opportunity to train year-round in a mild climate has attracted elite athletes and made this a hub for national team training centres.
As a result, impressive numbers of home-grown Island athletes have in turn been inspired by what they see going on around them and have aspired to the Games themselves, with hundreds of Islanders making it over the years.
Support facilities, such as the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence on the Camosun College Interurban campus, have sprung up as a result of all this top-level sporting activity in the region.
Qualification is on-going and the Canadian team is far from set, but one year-out, here are the Top-20 Island story-lines to look for on the road to the 2012 London Summer Games.
1 RYAN COCHRANE SWIMMING
After the bronze medal as a 19year-old in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, followed by gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and silvers at the 2009 and 2011 world championships, expectations will be high on this Victorian's sinewy shoulders.
But standing in the way of a golden ending to the tale is world-record holder Sun Yang of China. The Yang-Cochrane duel will be among the most compelling in London.
2 DAVID CALDER, SCOTT FRANDSEN ROWING
This Victoria pair, silver medallists at Beijing in 2008, will also be under considerable pressure to take the next step to the top of the podium. They aren't shying from the challenge and have labelled their quest: "Turning Olympic silver to gold."
A confident pair, but hardly cocky, theirs will be a pursuit worth watching.
"It's a special situation and we're working and putting in the sweat hard every day to close that gap in London," said Calder, the father of two who has made a personal financial sacrifice by taking a two-year leave of absence from his job with the B.C. government to follow his dreams to London.
"We know we can go so much faster and are looking ahead to a great year of training."
The London Olympic trials for rowing are later this month in Bled, Slovenia.
3 LINDSAY JENNE RICH ROWING
Canada has notoriously had a bad rate of converting world championship gold to Summer Olympic gold. But this Claremont grad, who barely missed making the team for Beijing, is now defending world champion in lightweight and looks great for London.
4 SIMON WHITFIELD TRIATHLON
Can he possibly come through for a third Olympic medal at age 37? He was previously underestimated at both Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008. There is something about the glaring spotlight of the Olympics that brings out the best in this legendary Victorian.
Is there anything left to draw from in that seemingly magic well? That question will be answered in London.
5 GEOFF KABUSH MAX PLAXTON MOUNTAIN BIKING
Not yet a golden oldie like Whitfield, the veteran and steady Kabush, a UVic mechanical engineering graduate from Courtenay, is looking to go out a medallist in his third Olympics.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)