(un)certainty

(un)certainty is an immersive, multi-disciplinary collaborative project between composer Lawton Hall, percussionist Abby Fisher, and multimedia artist Mare Hirsch. It engages with the most cutting-edge research being conducted in particle physics. The multi-sensory experience of (un)certainty brings together music composition and performance, data visualization, and installation art to engage with science currently being conducted at Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment. The room-scale spatial nature of the performance, robotic percussion instruments, and lighting creates an immersive environment in which the performer and audience are surrounded by robotic instruments and dynamic light structures. (un)certainty features a ring of computer-controlled mechanical woodblocks surrounding Fisher, who performs alongside the robotic ensemble. The piece is inspired by recent advances in physics, including the Muon g-2 project at Fermilab, which uses sensors on an electromagnetic ring to measure the behavior of strange subatomic particles called muons, and seeks a greater degree of certainty about the fundamental forces and elemental particles that comprise our universe. (un)certainty reflects a quest for knowledge through the combination of music, art, and embodied performance, and can be experienced as both a performance and an installation.