Zhan Wang finds his own 'God particle'

While all the attention in recent weeks has been on Cern and the hunt for the elusive, Higgs Bosun 'God particle', sculptor Zhang Wang has quietly been creating his own universe at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing. It's on show until February 25, 2012. The Chinese sculptor created My Personal Universe (2011) by recording the sound made by exploding a giant boulder from all directions using six high-definition cameras, shooting at 2,000 frames-per-second.

Zhang Wang, Original explosion film still for My Personal Universe (2011), UCCA, Beijing

The resulting video has been extended into a three-minute film which will play alongside the reconstruction of over 5,000 rock fragments suspended within the gallery. Cast in stainless steel, the rock fragments are exact replicas of the stone fragments from the original blast, their surfaces reflecting the film of the explosion.

Zhang Wang, My Personal Universe (2011), UCCA, Beijing

Zhang's personal universe come from the idea of the outer and the inner worlds he creates in his work, illuminating the universe which exists outside, and the universe he has created which lies within.

Zhang Wang with My Personal Universe (2011)

Zhang Wang is best known for his stainless steel sculptures, previously referencing 'scholars' rocks' - large, craggy boulders found in several provinces around China, that seen to have been sculpted by natural forces into complex forms. Collecting these rocks, Zhang moulds sections of stainless steel plates around each one, creating a 'skin'. He then removes this 'skin', and welds the pieces together, discarding the rock within. The flawless, mirror-finished steel 'boulders' appear to float where they stand.

Zhang Wang, Artificial stone 85 (2009) Houghton Hall Park, Norfolk, England