Art Science collaboration

ICE Group / Prof. Georgina King

Faculté des géosciences et de l'environment / UNIL

2023 - present

Trapped.Charged.Bedrock tells the story of a little rock that was carved from within the over deepened valleys of the Alps. For many years it was buried in the deep crust, until some one hundred thousand years ago it started a journey towards the surface of the earth.

It was a long journey with risks of partial melting and cracks. Then temperatures went down, and the rock’s electrons, that used to travel between the Valence and the Conduction bands in minerals, were trapped. The rock didn’t see the sun light, and its electrons remained trapped.

The rock could have reached the end of the glacier, experience its melting into rivers, further eroded or be transformed into sand. It could have joined an alluvial terrace, combined with other pebbles and grains, it could have joined a sedimentary basin beyond the range awaiting to be pushed by tectonic movements back to the deep crust. But the rock was taken to the lab. It’s trapped electrons gave important information about climate change and ice dynamics.

The rock is now in a studio, moving like a pendulum to help explore artistic notions of gravity, while, its visual representation “traps” images, rather than electrons. Where does the rock go next we still don’t know. In this journey, what the rock can tell us about the past, the present and the future, and how it can help us to see the world from another point of view, is what matters the most.

Scientific lead - Ph.D Audrey Margirier

Audio and sound - Paco Chambi

Glacier photography - Léa Rodari and Marjolein Gevers

Story board - Ph.D Audrey Margirier

Lab documentation - Christoph Schmidt

Scientific Background - Ph.D. Pontien Nizonyima

3D Glacier models - Léa Rodari

With support by: Ville de Lausanne / Service de la Culture

www.trappedcharged.wordpress.com