This third and largest movement of Crossing Over is located in the historic Dabney Lounge, built in 1928. Artist Lia Halloran’s installation You, Me, and Infinity, created for this section, speaks to our fascination with the cosmic expanse and our minute place within it. Her work incorporates various levels of scale, ranging from the human eye to the immense warping of space-time caused by gravitational waves.

Discrete case studies center on imagery from seismology, genetics, chemistry, particle physics, nuclear weapons, data visualization, rocketry, and planetary science, attesting to the rich and mutually influential relationships between artists and scientists at Caltech. At the heart of Powers of Ten is an exploration of Caltech’s relationship with the US military’s World War II Manhattan Project, synonymous with the 20th century’s most iconic image: the mushroom cloud.  These diverse works represent an imaginary voyage both inward and outward, reflecting on the vastness of the universe, whose history and complexity humans are only beginning to comprehend.

Data to Discovery, 3DDNA, 2016
Edith Wallace, Male and Female Fruit Flies, 1934