Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Image of the week | More cladding and a new message

    As the October sun sets on the ITER worksite, the cladding of the neutral beam power buildings takes on a golden hue. One after the other, each of the scientifi [...]

    Read more

  • Cryodistribution | Cold boxes 20 years in the making

    Twenty years—that is how long it took to design, manufacture and deliver the cold valve boxes that regulate the flow of cryogens to the tokamak's vacuum system. [...]

    Read more

  • Open Doors Day | Face to face with ITER immensity

    In October 2011, when ITER organized its first 'Open Doors Day,' there was little to show and much to leave to the public's imagination: the Poloidal Field [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion | Turning neutrons into electricity

    How will the power generated by nuclear fusion reactions be converted into electricity? That is not a question that ITER has been designed to answer explicitly, [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | JET completes a storied 40-year run

    In its final deuterium-tritium experimental campaign, Europe's JET tokamak device demonstrated plasma scenarios that are expected on ITER and future fusion powe [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Art and ITER

Sculptor Jean-Paul Philippe presents his "monument to fusion"

Just back from a trip to the Italian village of Asciano, where he oversaw the selection of stone for Résonances, French sculptor Jean-Paul Philippe was at ITER this week to present a small-scale model of his creation.

Artist Jean-Paul Philippe (left) consults with ITER Director-General Bernard Bigot about ''Résonances,'' a sculpture with symbolic references to fusion, ITER, and the energy of Sun and stars. It is planned for the village of La Roque d'Anthéron—located 45 km from ITER, and ''sister city'' to Asciano, Italy (the site of Philippe's best-known work ''Site Transitoire''). (Click to view larger version...)
Artist Jean-Paul Philippe (left) consults with ITER Director-General Bernard Bigot about ''Résonances,'' a sculpture with symbolic references to fusion, ITER, and the energy of Sun and stars. It is planned for the village of La Roque d'Anthéron—located 45 km from ITER, and ''sister city'' to Asciano, Italy (the site of Philippe's best-known work ''Site Transitoire'').
It will stand in the village of La Roque d'Anthéron, a monumental sculpture in stone that resonates with another work by the artist in the Italian town of Asciano, and yet is resolutely turned toward ITER. A tall pillar built from seven stone blocks, each one associated with one of the ITER Members. Gold-covered angles, designed to reflect sunlight toward the ITER machine on certain symbolic dates throughout the year. A location selected to place it directly along the trajectory of ITER component convoys, as they make their way from the Mediterranean Sea to the ITER site.

The project is independent financially from the ITER Organization, but has the support of a number of staff, including ITER Director-General Bernard Bigot who is serving as the first president of the Résonances endowment fund. "The Résonances monument will have symbolic references to fusion, ITER, and the energy of Sun and stars; it will also highlight the large international collaborative nature of the ITER Project, with a stone for each of the seven ITER Members. In this way, it creates an important "resonance" between Art and Science..."

The artist has chosen travertine stone—a dense, porous material that is highly decorative when polished. He travelled last month to a quarry in Asciano, Italy, to select the blocks for ''Résonances.'' (Click to view larger version...)
The artist has chosen travertine stone—a dense, porous material that is highly decorative when polished. He travelled last month to a quarry in Asciano, Italy, to select the blocks for ''Résonances.''
The monument is in the early stages of creation. Jean-Paul Philippe travelled to the travertine quarry in Asciano to choose the stone blocks in October and to plan for their engraving. And last week, he presented a small-scale model to the ITER Director-General and discussed some of the finer details of the nine-metre-tall sculpture planned in La Roque d'Anthéron, as well as of a smaller replica that will be installed at one of the entrances to the ITER site. 

If all goes according to plan the elements of the artwork, already shaped and assembled at the artist's studio situated in Siena, Italy, will be transported in June 2022 to the commune of La Roque d'Anthéron for assembly.

As "Résonances" is funded by private financial contributions, it is possible for anyone interested in ITER or in the aesthetic and symbolic value of the sculpture to make a donation towards the creation of the monument. Fundraising is underway now through the "Résonances" project website. The artist has proposed a way to incorporate donors by name within the monument to acknowledge their contribution.

return to the latest published articles