THE SUPERLATIVE LIGHT (2010)
In an underground complex, buried three floors beneath the University of Texas, there is an almost inconceivable piece of technology. It’s called the Texas Petawatt Laser, which produces the most powerful laser pulse in the world – within fractions of a second the peak output is almost two thousand times greater than the whole of the United States’ electrical grid. It produces the brightest light in the entire universe. With this laser, scientists produce the dense matter found in the centres of stars, and the conditions of planetary cores can be recreated. In THE SUPERLATIVE LIGHT, Robert Shults presents the Texas Petawatt Laser drawing upon the conventions of ‘B-grade’ science fiction films. The scientists in his photographs become a group of talented, yet mortal heroes who perform work for a brilliant villain that is normally reserved for gods.
