Ian Andrews

I am a visual artist involved in an on-going collaboration with Prof Kostas Nikolopoulos from the particle physics group at the University of Birmingham called  “The Sketchbook and the Collider” and evolves from my residency at the University in 2018.The work involves the search for equivalents between the primary artistic language of drawing and the interaction of fundamental particles. The outcomes include hand-drawn books, light boxes, large scale drawings and moving image pieces exploring the “choreography” of particles as they transform, annihilate and decay. “Live” collaborative drawing events with participants working on a communal drawing surface explores the idea of collaboration and interaction as a creative act.

Despite obvious differences the disciplines of fine art and particle physics are both concerned with “making the invisible visible.” Scientific developments have seen the “everyday” dissolve into sub-atomic interactions only accessible by examining traces in a detector. A process mirrored by the artist expressing ideas through marks made and materials manipulated. Taking the same journey from something hidden to something revealed.Comparing an essential piece of equipment from each discipline, the sketchbook, and the particle collider both can be seen as arenas where different elements are brought together, sometimes violently, that create and examine the traces of these hidden interactions.

The mechanics of making a drawing are exposed in the same way that physicists reveal elemental particles, creating an intimate visual and conceptual connection between the visual language of drawing and the interaction of sub-atomic particles that create all matter in the universe and which are the very building blocks of the reality we experience. 

Integral to the project are a series of educational practical workshops, talks and events developing trans-disciplinary links between art and science. Primary and secondary schools, community groups, professional practice sessions for educators and family sessions have been delivered encouraging the development of a "creative curiosity."