Surfing the Cosmos: Energy and Environment

Surfing the Cosmos

is an original book of photographs and text that visually explores the high/low of energy in the slums of Rio de Janeiro as compared with the high-tech physics of CERN, where discovering the origins of the universe and the elementary particles from which it is made are examined. Within this visual story are the unplanned beautiful drawings that humans make in space with electrical wires, whether from the favela or CERN. These drawings inspired a series of artworks/photographs that are pictured in this book, often along with their photographic source or the spirit of the community from which they are derived (either favela or CERN). The human energy of the favela is also mirrored in CERN with one specific comparison of the graffiti from Rio and the chalkboards of CERN, both viewed as works of art and sources that motivated the author’s response as demonstrated in his previous works through examples including paintings, fashion scarves, handmade rugs from Nepal, bamboo cotton face masks along with surfboards (chalkboards) and skatedecks.