'I've breathed in some crazy things from outer space' – Katie Paterson's cosmic art

The artist who once sent a meteorite back into orbit is now looking for the heavenly in Turner's paintings, in a show that explodes with moonlight and gamma ray confetti

The confetti cannon is set to go off every two weeks, firing out 3,216 pieces of paper, each colour-coded to match the gamma ray bursts that destroy entire galaxies. Nearby, a spinning wheel contains all the colours of the universe - today's is "cosmic latte". Elsewhere in Katie Paterson's new show, there's a lightbulb that emits "moonlight", an LP that turns at the speed of the Earth (one rotation a day), and letters of condolence sent to an astronomer mourning for dead stars.

Critics have marvelled at Paterson's ability to blend "the galactic and the mundane". They have also coined a term for the feeling you get when contemplating her work: ontological vertigo. "I love that expression," laughs the artist, who is busy installing what will be her largest ever British exhibition, at the Turner Contemporary in Margate. "That's what I get if I'm thinking about billions of years. It is sometimes dizzy-making, especially if you've got that colour wheel spinning."