4-6 November 2022, Summerhall, Edinburgh, UK
When stars die they bombard us with cosmic rays, invisible particles that stream through us constantly but imperceptibly. Somewhere In the Universe it Rains Diamonds (Aether) makes them visceral. In the centre of a small, chapel-like room is a cloud chamber, a glass sphere in which cosmic rays appear as wisps and streaks—barely visible vapour trails through mist. But they are transformed into boneshaking sound. Sound derived from inside the body—the human voice—itself passed through a medium of digital processing and then removed from the mix, leaving behind its own sonic vapour trail.
Sitting in a church pew, a visitor places their hands on the cloud chamber pedestal, their pulse read through their fingers. The projection of cosmic rays syncs with their body as does the sound, felt as vibration through the pew and pedestal, seen and felt only with each heart beat. For millennia we have endeavoured to transcend our bodies. Religion and philosophy across cultures privilege the soul or mind over the body, seeking to overcome its physical limitations and temptations. Now as our collective attention increasingly turns to a disembodied meta-verse, this installation seeks to engage us viscerally with the real one: to connect our bodies not only to our immediate environment, but to the far reaches of the universe. It evokes our longing for transcendence while also grounding us, evoking simultaneously the richness of embodiment and our vulnerability to the sublime forces of nature.