作者：ポペリエ
Popelier
題名：Muon and Me
画材：アクリル、再生カードと紙、金箔、／H60cm x W60cm／2019
内容：My concept is generated from the fact we can’t see muons and that they originate from cosmic rays colliding with our atmosphere. That’s why it is all black.
詳細説明：
Warren Popelier
Illustrator, Painter, Animator, Creator
A year ago, I had no idea. No idea what a muon is or does. They say you always remember your first time and in this case it’s true. Dr. Nakajima was waiting for me in a gallery in Tennoji, Osaka, as we had arranged a meeting there. A mutual connection had put me in touch with Dr. Nakajima so that I could discuss my project with him, which we did, for about an hour, and just as the talk was winding down, Dr. Nakajima mentioned muography. Did I know it? I didn’t. He explained more, and the more I listened, the more ridiculous it sounded. I’m not a physicist, but the very idea of muons was too incredible to believe. I wondered why I had never heard of it before. Was this man crazy? Well, yes, a little bit. He was gripped by ‘Muon Madness’. This is not a bad thing. Rather it’s an infectious enthusiasm for using art to explain science, something which interested me immediately. I left the meeting with some idea, but little understanding of muography. I contacted an acquaintance who is a nuclear physicist and astronomer and asked her if she had ever heard of muons. A stupid question. Of course, she had, but why am I asking her about it? I explained my meeting with Dr. Nakajima and muography. Without hesitation, she recommended that I get involved.
An invitation arrived to a Muography exhibition at Kansai University and I went along to check it out. I got there just in time, for the speeches were about to begin. After introductions, given by Professor Sumiya, we were given a tour, starting with a section devoted to the science of muons and the use thereof. By now, the idea of muons and muography was starting to click and fall into place. Not quite a “eureka” moment, but more like, “I get it. I think”. This was followed by artistic interpretations of muons by artists, some of whom were also there, each one giving a brief presentation of their artwork. Not being fluent in Japanese, I soon became bored and wandered off to look at the rest of the exhibition on my own.What struck me first, was the diversity of the interpretations of muons. There was so much to look at. Painting, sculpture, ceramics and illustration, all used to help people like me understand the concept of muons and this inspired me to think of how I would express this same concept as art.The artwork I created for this exhibition is mostly built around the invisibility of muons, their speed and the subtlety of their existence. As I regularly use the star motif in my own art, it seems like a perfect connection for expressing the origins of muons, cosmic rays from space colliding with our atmosphere. So, there we have it. What we should believe is not always on the surface. Sometimes we need to look deeper within. We should all try it.