The three concrete blocks CERN installed to contain waste at the CMS experiment were ugly and needed paint, according to Niels Dupont-Sagorin, who is in charge of safety at the site. But a quote from contractors for a basic white coat of paint turned out to be pricey. So, he thought, why not make the paint job an artistic investment? A few months later, the site now sports two physics-themed outdoor frescoes done by a local graffiti artist, with one design by a retired CMS researcher.
“My idea was to ask some graffiti artists because I’m from the suburbs of Paris and into street art,” Dupont-Sagorin said. But here on the Swiss-French border, “I didn’t actually know at which door to knock.”
Then one day, while driving from the Meyrin, Switzerland, campus over to the CMS site, Dupont-Sagorin saw something at a roundabout that made him stop. A man was spray painting a billboard with information about an upcoming event in a way Dupont-Sagorin quite liked. He stopped and asked if the man did this work for hire. Indeed, the painter was a freelance artist who goes by the street name Loodz [pictured above with Dupont-Sagorin]. They exchanged information, and Dupont-Sagorin went home to check out Loodz’s website.
“Immediately, I noticed he was good,” Dupont-Sagorin said. “But he’s paid, you know, not a graffiti terrorist.”
He sent Loodz a picture of the blank concrete blocks and also took the opportunity to send a shot of another long blank wall at the entrance to the CMS Control Room.
Loodz sent back some proposal sketches. Dupont-Sagorin was happy with one of them, a dark sketch of the universe dotted with tiny white stars. But the second design lacked something; he thought a more CERN-specific piece would be more fitting.
He asked for suggestions from Michael Hoch, a CMS physicist and himself a curator-creator of many an art project at the experimental site. Hoch knew just whom to ask about the wall: now-retired CMS researcher Sergio Cittolin.
In 1994, Cittolin made a design depicting the evolution of the universe after the Big Bang. This was first used for LHC outreach on a “magic box” toy, a Jacobs-ladder-like cube whose sides flap open never-endingly to reveal inner designs. Later he revamped the sketch into one long image that was adapted into a banner on the CMS website.
Hoch thought Sergio’s creation would work perfectly on the blank wall by the CMS control room. Dupont-Sagorin agreed, noting that its origins also connected to the experiment nicely. With Sergio’s permission, he sent high-definition photos of the banner to Loodz, who merged them with photos of the wall in order to plan the final piece.
Funding ultimately came from the CMS Outreach office and the Experiment Area Manager in the Engineering Department. Loodz did all the art himself, entirely in spray paint, and finished both the wall and then the concrete blocks of the waste area in just 10 days.
“I’m really happy with it,” Dupont-Sagorin said. “I’d like to have money to do it elsewhere.” He has a keen personal interest in outreach and even works as a CERN tour guide on the side. “The shape of your message, your presentations – everything you do is important,” he said.
At his worksite, the physics community clearly agrees.
