Apples and Atoms by Eilís O’Connell RHA Celebrating Ernest T.S. Walton 1903-95, Nobel Laureate
In 1932, Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft split the nucleus of a Li (lithium) atom, often termed ‘splitting the atom’. The experiment was carried out in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, England. Albert Einstein declared that their experiment was the first demonstration of his famous E=mc2 equation.
Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the experiment, Trinity College Dublin invited six artists to submit a design responding to a brief to commemorate Ernest Walton’s research achievements as well as over 30 years of dedication to science education. Eilís O’Connell’s design was selected by an interdisciplinary panel including representatives from the Walton family, the School of Physics, the College Art Collections, the students, and external visual arts professionals.
Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton (6 October 1903 – 25 June 1995) was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate. He is best known for his work with John Cockcroft to construct one of the earliest types of particle accelerator, the Cockcroft–Walton generator. In experiments performed at Cambridge University in the early 1930s using the generator, Walton and Cockcroft became the first team to use a particle beam to transform one element to another. According to their Nobel Prize citation: “Thus, for the first time, a nuclear transmutation was produced by means entirely under human control.”
HAS BEEN RELOCATED WITHIN THE BOTANIC GARDENS IN GLASNEVIN
For some unknown reason it is almost impossible the get details of permanent public art on view in the Botanic Gardens.
I believe that this bronze sculpture, recently relocated, is Sepian Blue by Nasser Azam.
[UPDATE] According to a contact: “Azam’s monumental bronze sculpture Sepian Blue was exhibited at Sculpture in Context, Ireland’s largest exhibition of public sculpture held at the Botanic Gardens outside Dublin, and is now part of the Botanical Garden’s permanent collection and displayed at the entrance to the gardens.” [NOTE] Has been relocated away from the entrance.
Nasser Azam was born in Jhelum, Pakistan in 1963, and moved to London with his parents when he was 7 years old (1970). He began painting in 1980, and in the same year embarked on a business degree at the University of Birmingham. In 1983 he also featured in a BBC documentary.
In 2007, after an extended period living and travelling in Japan, America and Europe, Azam became Artist-in-Residence at the County Hall Gallery London, with an exhibition of early and recent work. Subsequent exhibitions included the ‘Anatomica’ series of paintings, made from illustrations taken both from fashion magazines and medical textbooks. In 2012 Azam unveiled “Athena” at Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham, London city airport. At just over twelve metres high, it is the tallest bronze sculpture in the United Kingdom. Previous sculptural work includes the large bronze sculpture The Dance, unveiled on the South Bank on 21 February 2008 and work for the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, in Dublin.
Azam’s semi-abstract style of painting has been compared with that of Willem de Kooning. His paintings show the human figure encoded in bio-morphic forms and gestural marks, and typically use a restricted palette.
In 2010 Azam purchased the Morris Singer Art Foundry and relaunched it as the Zahra Modern Art Foundry.