ArtScience and the ICECUBE LED Display [ILDm^3]

ICECUBE LED Display [ILDm^3] is a cubic-meter, 1/1000th scale model of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a novel telescope that looks for nearly invisible cosmic messengers, neutrinos, using a cubic-kilometer of instrumented ice starting 1450 meters below the surface at the South Pole. The display uses art methodologies as a means for expressing imperceptible astrophysical events as sound, light and colour in the domain of the human sensorium. The experience is as aesthetically critical as it is facilitatory to an intuitive understanding of subatomic astrophysical data, leading to new ways of knowing about our Universe and its processes. The objective of this project was to build a static volumetric dis- play as a model of IceCube for visualization of spatio-temporal data recorded by the observatory. While the primary use of the display is as a model for artistic, educational, and outreach purposes, the display is also being explored as an instrument for the scientific analysis of IceCube data sets by human observers. The technical approach to designing the display was to place an emphasis on reproducibility so that it can be readily built and used by the re- searchers in the IceCube research community. Evaluation of the display is being used as a baseline for the development of future exhibits.