Looming large over the UK’s tranquil Cheshire countryside, the Lovell radio telescope with its 76 m-diameter steerable dish is a beacon of science and engineering. This summer, it was transformed into a projection screen for an audiovisual artwork, using live data received from pulsars. The work, by Japanese artist Daito Manabe, was part of the Blue Dot Festival, an annual event in which the Jodrell Bank Observatory plays host to musicians, artists and a range of science communicators. Andrew Glester reports from this year’s festival for the October episode of the Physics World podcast.