Some 300 km offshore from Vancouver Island on Canada’s Pacific coast scientists and technologists are building a deep-sea neutrino observatory. The Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment, P-ONE, is a collaboration between Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and researchers at the Technical University of Munich, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Alberta. The first 1 km tall photomultiplier mooring for this large multi-year project is being installed in Cascadia Basin (depth 2700 km) summer 2026, with additional installations planned for ensuing years. In this endeavour, increasingly intricate technological systems in extremely challenging environments strive to catch traces of neutrinos.  There is still much that is unknown about these entities, and what is known requires a concurrent emphasis on artistic modes of display to interpret, understand and even embody the data from these sources. It is at this juncture that multidisciplinary expertise across science, arts and the social sciences are most productive.

Since starting its Artist in Residency program in 2018 ONC has increasingly engaged in ArtScience and its inherent potential for science communication and arts-based knowledge creation. This presentation highlights one such activity ONC has facilitated entitled “Neutrino’s Exquisite Corpse” held for 6 weeks in the summer of 2026 with a interdisciplinary team of artists, musicians, physicists, technologists, ocean engineers and tiny neutrinos. Based upon the Surrealist’s co-creation model, the Neutrino Exquisite Corpse underwent 3 rounds of artistic collaboration with each artist taking turns to contribute to the growing body of work. At each round, the team engaged with scientists and artists to enhance the interpretation of the data and processes of subatomic particle detection in the deep ocean. Beyond trying to communicate the science, we discussed the ambiguity and unknowns surrounding neutrinos with the hope of finding new ways of practice-based research. The outcomes were emergent, unexpected and poetic etudes (studies) that preserved the traces of the project member’s original and diverse intents.  

The Neutrino Exquisite Corpse project represents aligns with broader research-creation practices of the ocean, aiming to connect media and environments unfamiliar to human bodies and modes of sensing. The scale of the P-ONE’s installation may already stretch into the deepest oceans, but the implications of neutrino sensing reach far across the universe.  Such interscalar research houses much promise in building the narratives and resonances of the science. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this project, the pilot project was a mutually beneficial collaboration for the teams involved.