A VISION REVOLUTION 2. Gamma & X rays (27’4






















Bananas contain Potassium 40, a radioactive isotope emitting small amounts of Gamma Radiation

Gamma rays are photons emitted by the nuclear decay of radioactive isotopes such as Potassium 40.  Like X rays they can pass through matter, but they are higher in energy and shorter in wavelength and so more penetrating and more dangerous. Gamma ray imagery, confined until relatively recently to physics labs, is used now in medicine (PET scans) and in astronomy (the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope studying the elusive but spectacular Gamma-ray bursts associated with the birth of black holes). Like other forms of ionizing radiation, gamma rays can be detected by a Geiger-Muller Counter.

 

It is easy to forget that Gamma rays are a form of light - if we think of these rays at all, we think of them as nuclear radiation (which is correct), with little impact on our everyday world. Gamma ray imagery is used in medicine (PET scans) and in astronomy (the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope studies the elusive but spectacular Gamma-ray bursts associated with the birth of black holes). A banana is a rare source of gamma radiation in our everyday world which is emitted in tiny - and therefore safe - quantities by the potassium in the fruit. This artwork is about making this most subtle light source perceptible.

BANANA MUSIC

BANANA MUSIC

Geiger counter, microphone

stand, table, computer, bananas.

School of Looking

2020

Man vergisst leicht, dass es sich bei Gammastrahlen um eine Form von Licht handelt  – wenn wir überhaupt an diese Strahlen denken, dann denken wir an radioaktive Strahlung (was auch richtig ist), die unsere Alltagswelt kaum anzutreffen ist. Gammastrahlenbilder werden in der Medizin (PET-Scans) und in der Astronomie (das Fermi-Gammastrahlen-Weltraumteleskop untersucht die schwer fassbaren, aber spektakulären Gammastrahlenausbrüche, die mit der Entstehung schwarzer Löcher verbunden sind) verwendet. Eine Banane ist eine seltene Quelle von Gammastrahlung in unserer alltäglichen Welt, die in winzigen – und daher ungefährlichen – Mengen von Kalium in der Frucht abgegeben wird. In diesem Kunstwerk geht es darum, diese höchst subtile Lichtquelle wahrnehmbar zu machen.