The View from Nowhere, 2018

Keywords: Ethnography; Scientific language; Scientific data; Matter

SEMICONDUCTOR (UK)

The View from Nowhere, 2018

Single-channel video with sound (13:11 mins)

In The View from Nowhere, Semiconductor offer an ethnographic observation of the practices, techniques and languages developed by scientists at CERN, revealing the rich culture of the laboratory. Their exploration raises multiple questions: how do scientists conceptualize and organise reality; what is our viewpoint, as observers; and, how does science mediate nature?

By its very nature, particle physics deals with matter and concepts that require incredibly advanced technology and engineering, as evidenced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN: a particle accelerator built by scientists to better understand the fundamental components and nature of our universe.

The View from Nowhere focuses on the voice of the scientists, as well as the artefacts built to test their ideas; rifling through archives and performing scientific data by means of computer-generated animations. Through this in-depth exploration, Semiconductor’s film reveals the rich culture of the laboratory and the constant pursuit of the understanding of nature by those who work there.

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