Superior messes – Thomas Struth’s photographs of science in the making

Thomas Struth: Tokamak Asdex Upgrade, Interior 1; Max Planck IPP, Garching 2009

When photographer Thomas Struth looks at science and technology, he seems to see either clinically clean superiority or superior messes. Which is probably a pretty realistic assessment.

Thomas Struth: Tokamak Asdex Upgrade Periphery; Max Planck IPP, Garching 2009

More of Struth’s photographs of science and tech environments is here (print) and here (online).

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As an aside: A while ago I had the chance to visit the Tokamak Asdex Upgrade in Garching myself, and not only was I able to see the above cable mess first hand, but also this, just a few steps away:

For those who must know: Behind this door are two of the four neutral beam injectors that are used to heat the plasma to the infernal temperatures necessary to induce nuclear fusion – something around 100 Million degrees…