carsten nicolai

snow noise

2001
acrylic tubes, polystyrene boxes with copper tubes, dry ice, lamp with magnifying glass, wall drawing, sound, random noise generators
dimension variable
snow noise snow noise

»... to imagine an individual soul in each and any starlet of snow is utterly absurd, and therefore the shapes of snowflakes can by no means be deduced from the operation of a soul in the same way as in plants.« – Johannes Kepler, 1611.

On entering the laboratory-like space, visitors are invited to initiate the process of growing a snow crystal. Cooling units provide the opportunity to cool down specially prepared glass cylinders to a temperature of minus 25 degree Celsius. Only a few minutes after the glass has been placed into the cooling unit the formation of simple snow crystal structures can be observed. In the course of time, increasingly complex structures develop, none of which repeat. A systematic survey of the tremendous variety of snow crystals in the form of a diagram helps the visitor to identify individual crystal structures. Through a very subtle light and sound design snow noise is centring on micro- structures shifting the focus of our perception.