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Pioneers in Art and Science: Art, Poetry and Particle Physics

With John Berger, the celebrated author of Ways of Seeing.

Ken McMullen’s extraordinary new film sees John Berger travelling to CERN in Geneva for a wide-ranging and provocative series of discussions and collaborations with the experimental and theoretical physicists Michael Doser and John March Russell. Art, Poetry and Particle Physics includes one hour of additional material and features the poetry of Jorge Luis Borges and Simone Weil.


‘How to justify the money for pure research? I ask this question to provoke you. It’s not my position, but it’s a question that it seems to me that lots of people would ask, and it would be interesting for you to answer it.’ John Berger

John Berger is a legendary writer and critic, winner of the Booker Prize and author of one of the most influential books on art of our time, Ways of Seeing.

In Ken McMullen’s engaging and accessible film, he travels to the world’s biggest particle physics laboratory at CERN in Geneva to confront physicists with poetry. The film charts an extraordinary and wide-ranging series of discussions and collaborations between Berger and the leading theoretical and experimental physicists John March Russell and Michael Doser.

During filming, artists from all over the world were working with CERN physicists on a project that culminated in a major exhibition called Signatures of the Invisible, while in the laboratory Michael Doser was engaged in an ultimately successful quest to produce one million molecules of anti-matter.

Whether discussing the development of the atom bomb, the value and necessity of research, or the ghostly theft of one of his gloves at the grave of Jorge Luis Borges, Berger demonstrates why he is one of our foremost cultural figures. He brings an infectious and inspiring curiosity to each encounter to create a refreshingly accessible new perspective to our understanding of the value of science and culture today.

This DVD was generously supported by the University of the Arts London and the European Commission, and commissioned and funded by Arts Council England through its Pilot Publications and Recordings Programme as part of its Pioneers in Art and Science initiative.

Pioneers in Art and Science: Art, Poetry and Particle Physics (ISBN 0-7287-1096-X) is available to buy online from our distributors Pinnacle Entertainment. Order a copy now
    Ken McMullen (left) in conversation with John Berger at CERN. Reproduced with the permission of Ken McMullen.
    Ken McMullen (left) in conversation with John Berger at CERN. Reproduced with the permission of Ken McMullen.

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