Deconstruction: Soudan mural
The mural is next to the 6000-ton MINOS detector. Photo: Fred Ullrich, Fermilab |
This mural in the Soudan Underground Laboratory, located in Minnesota half a mile underground, was designed by artist Joseph Giannetti. Its theme is matter and energy, and--more specifically--neutrino physics. The mural is in the same cavern as the MINOS experiment, which in March began to record neutrinos sent to the mine straight through the Earth from Fermilab in Illinois--no tunnel needed.
"When I started to create this image, I was feeling something about energy, something about universal language, something that was abstract and yet so clear," says Giannetti. He views the image as a graphic representation of energy as it changes from one form to another. "Accepting that all things are in motion--you, me, the world, the universe--from the subatomic level to the universal level, there is then only one constant: change. If one person sees this mural, and it changes the way he or she looks at the world, if it makes a change in their life for the better, I would consider this painting to be a raving success."
The mural, 59 feet wide and 25 feet tall, highlights the history of neutrino physics, particle symbols and interactions, the connection of the mine to Fermilab, and the contributions of neutrino experiments at other mines. The background of the mural was inspired by an image of the Carina Nebula.
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