Distortions in Spacetime
Distortions in Spacetime is an interactive audiovisual installation, in which the participants and their movements are reflected by particle systems to help them comprehend the cosmic connection between black holes, dying stars, and our very existence.
Our concept of reality is entwined with how are bodies are structured to perceive the world. This installation opens a doorway to dimensions beyond human experience, a point in space where time stretches to a stop, gravity exceeds the speed of light. This installation peers over the event horizon, exploring the cosmic connection between black holes, dying stars and our very existence.
Death is the source of life – a star must die so that you might live.
In a giant star’s final moments atoms compress to a point where density becomes infinite, time stretches to a stop and the gravitational field is so strong that not even light can escape – a black hole.
But the force that creates this dark shadow also spews out a supernova explosion filled with the power of creation. A cosmic cascade of heavy elements fused in the heart of the star. The ingredients for life that eventually coalesce to form planets, plants and people.
Our concept of reality is entwined with how our bodies are structured to perceive the world. Scientific inquiry, probing the nature of nature, reveals a much broader spectrum of reality that lies beyond our perception.
This installation makes the invisible visible to reveal cosmic connections between black holes, dying stars and our very existence.
‘The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.’
– Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Exhibition History
2023/2024 Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen, 2023 (13 October 2023 – 14 April 2024)
2020/2022 NXT Museum (August 2020 – December 2022)
2018 British Science Festival, Hull, UK (11 September 2018)
2018 MOSI, Manchester Science Festival (18 – 28 October 2018)