For Burning Man 2010, I made a piece that collects background radiation and reports it as light and sound.
After Burning Man, this piece was exhibited at the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Arts (Kingston, NY) and the Bay Area Maker Faire (San Mateo, CA). There has been one spin-off project called Radiation Orchestra and I have started to work with cell phone radiation as an event trigger for effects.

Having a project at Burning Man was one of the most rewarding things I have done. It’s pretty special to be a part of one of the most creative communities on the planet!

Radiation Collector at Burning Man


Closeup of electronics

“Radiation Catcher”2010

The Radiation Catcher sees background radiation hits with a Geiger-Muller tube sensor and reports the hit
back to the viewer with light and sound.

The level of natural radiation varies depending on location. In some locations, the level is significantly higher than the average.

These areas include Ramsar in Iran, Kerala in India, the northern Flinders Ranges in Australia and Yangjiang in China.

The highest levels of natural background radiation recorded in the world are from areas around Ramsar, Iran, which has up to 200 times greater than normal background levels.

It has been reported that these residents of these areas have healthier and longer lives than those living in areas that are not considered to be high radiation areas.

Source : www.sciencemag.org August 2005: Vol. 309 no. 5736

Concept and Electronic design : Sophi Kravitz
Mechanical fabrication : Oliver Tanner