“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself.
Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies…”
- Alan Watts
Particle Shrine is an immersive sound sculpture commissioned by Science Gallery London, born out of an artist residency at King's College London's Department of Physics.
Five bespoke muon detectors respond to cosmic rays passing through the room in real time, driving spatial generative compositions, vibrating mirrors, lighting, and projection. A live data feed from Super-Kamiokande — the Nobel Prize-winning neutrino observatory in Japan — extends this reach to a planetary scale.
Recipient of the MIDI Innovation Award 2024, the work sits at the intersection of particle physics and contemplative experience. Cosmic rays are ancient, having travelled billions of light years before passing silently through our bodies.
Particle Shrine makes this invisible transit perceptible: a space for reflection on deep time and our quiet entanglement with the cosmos.
| Release Date | Specifications | Commissioner |
| 2022 | Spatial audio (d&b soundscape or 8 channel), Real-time data analysis, Bespoke cosmic ray detectors, Projection, HIPS mirrors, Transducers, Code, LED, Wood, Acrylic, Steel wire, Acrylic | Science Galley London |
PRESS
BBC
‘Cosmic rays transformed for light and sound show’
NPR
‘A scientist and a musician are collaborating to turn cosmic ray data into art’
Symmetry Particle Physics Magazine
‘Feeling the Universe’
MIDI Innovation Awards 2024 - Winner
Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year - Art and Science Finalist
EXHIBITIONS
NAMM, LA, USA with the MIDI Association: January 2025
Music China, Shanghai: October 2024
Synthfest, Sheffield: October 2024
SVA Brunel Goods Shed, Stroud: September 2023
Somerset House, London Design Biennale: July - August 2023
Science Gallery London: August 2022 - January 2023
CREDITS
Creative director, designer, producer, composer: Christo Squier
Creative technologist, designer: Chris Ball
Experimental particle physicist: Dr. Teppei Katori
Lighting Design: Eden Morrison & Christo Squier
Ableton Live / Max for Live bespoke devices: Mark Towers, Bill Brooks
Soundscape Install: Jack Page, Wayne Powell, d&b Audiotechnik
Videographer / Editor: Matt Jolly
Fabrication: Sam Mills
Video Animations: Peter Story
Photography: Matt Jolly, Jack Latimer, Rah Petherbridge, Dom Thompson
WITH THANKS
- Science Gallery London
- d&b audiotechnik
- King's College London, Department of Physics, Experimental Particle and Astroparticle Physics group
- King's Undergraduate Research Fellowships
- Britten Pears Arts
- Ableton
- Hackspace Manchester
- The Premises Studios
- Spencer Axani of CosmicWatch
