The title of this work, Modell zur Visualisierung (Model for Visualization), already presents an obvious reference to a physics experiment. And, resting on a light table, Carsten Nicolai’s work also visually resembles equipment in a research laboratory: a coil in a cathode ray tube picks up sound frequencies and converts them into a magnetic field. This affects a beam of electrons so that sounds become visible as blue light rays. But Nicolai’s Modell is about more than just introducing a matter of scientific interest into the field of art. The work also provides a litmus test of the working models that determine our perception and awareness thereof. In that capacity, it inspires utopian ideas of how the sound of the world could be rendered visible by means of synesthesia.