Philipp Lachenmann
DELPHI_Rationale, 4K Video
12/1/2019

The title of the video installation DELPHI_Rationale by Philipp Lachenmann (*1963) implies a connection between two worlds that are actually contradictory – the ancient Greek city of Delphi, famous primarily for its oracle, and Rational – standing for reason, insight or also logical thinking.

The 12-minute film was shot in the Geneva DELPHI detector of CERN, where the so-called “God particle” (Higgs-Boson) was discovered. An Indian sarod player plays at the entrance to the contemporary "Temple of Ultimate Discoveries and Rational Expansion of Consciousness", which becomes the platform for a paradoxical mystery.