SOL MACHINA

Nobel Prize Museum Courtyard | Free admission

SOL MACHINA is a light installation that explores the relation between solar energy and the human experience. At its centre is an ethereal “machine” that transforms the Sun’s energy into something we can see and feel, creating the hypnotic illusion of a vortex or source of energy. Its forms evoke the solar corona, halos of light, and solar storms, all manifestations of the force that powers the solar system and sustains life on Earth.

In 1967, Hans Bethe was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for explaining how stars generate energy through nuclear fusion. His research revealed the Sun as a vast engine, continually transforming matter into the energy that reaches and sustains life on Earth.

Connecting with Bethe’s work, the artists imagine how human beings transform the sun’s energy into emotion, consciousness, relationships and meaning. SOL MACHINA invites visitors to reflect on the energy that drives our existence and on our own ability to transform it.

Nobel Prize facts

Hans Albrecht Bethe was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1967 “for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars”.