point of no return

With point of no return, Ryoji Ikeda condenses the unknowable chaos of the event horizon of a black hole into a work of order and balance. Composing a delicate assemblage of basic shapes, sounds, light and shadow, the artist eschews the intricacies of data for a more sculptural approach. While gesturing towards the sublime, the infinite expanse of space and the immense, reality-warping gravitational force of a black hole, he focuses in on the beauty of the physical, bringing together a few simple elements to make sense of something unthinkably complex. Through his own artistic process of playing with space, the artist finds purity in basic structures while drawing inspiration from the vast scope of the universal. “point of no return is a very simple, very intense piece,” he says.

‘Semi-Diurnal Spaces’ is a site specific immersive installation in form of a full dome which makes use of local tidal and atmospheric data of South Wales. Locals were invited to experience their close-by waterbody through a meditative environment, connecting to it in a poetic, technological and tele present way. Tidal patterns and atmospheric data such as wind and humidity influence a digital NVIDIA FleX particle system in real-time. The site-specific data influences the gravitational forces, fluid viscosity and flow rate within the dome as a body, resulting in a living digital sculpture and AV experience connecting to aspects of the channel itself.

DARK DISTORTIONS
‘Dark Distortions’ – was inspired by Euclid, a forthcoming ESA mission to study the mysterious nature of dark matter and dark energy, which is due to launch in mid-2022. Dark matter is thought to account for 85% of the matter in the universe. Visible stuff within galaxies – such as stars and planets and dust – has insufficient gravitational pull to prevent galaxies from disintegrating as they rotate. But galaxies don’t fly apart in this way, so astrophysicists proposed that they must contain “dark” matter that has sufficient mass to keep galaxies intact – but which has never been seen directly.

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ТЕМНЫЕ ИСКАЖЕНИЯ
«Dark Distortions» – был вдохновлен Евклидом, предстоящей миссией ЕКА по изучению загадочной природы темной материи и темной энергии, запуск которой запланирован на середину 2022 года. Считается, что темная материя составляет 85% материи во Вселенной. Видимое вещество внутри галактик – например, звезды, планеты и пыль – обладает недостаточным гравитационным притяжением, чтобы предотвратить распад галактик при их вращении. Но галактики не разлетаются таким образом, поэтому астрофизики предположили, что они должны содержать «темную» материю, обладающую достаточной массой, чтобы сохранить галактики в целости, но которую никогда не видели напрямую.

Distortions in Spacetime
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 of matter that can eventually coalesce to form planets, plants and people. In Distortions in Spacetime, visitors will see themselves reflected in this matter and will begin to understand the cosmic connection between black holes, dying stars and our very existence.

Vitreous
The nine virtual sculptures underlying vitreous resulted from experimental setups by Robert Seidel for generating three-dimensional clusters of fibrous refractions, as well as the gravitational lensing of different volumetric and chromatic densities. Singular elements gravitate towards each other, accumulating in a gigantic sculptural system, where each entity exists with its own visual axis and vanishing point. The impalpable luminous formations create prismatic interactions between the ridges and plateaux of the main colours floating in front of the infinite violet background.

siderea
We presented our interpretation of a gravitational anomaly, entitled Siderea, an unknown force at the outer fringes of the Universe, in the centre of the Great Attractor. Beyond anything our eyes or our minds are capable of imagining and using geometric and scientific coordinates to create a palpable world to scale, we wanted to tell a deeply immersive tale exploring the emotions that the discovery of such a stellar phenomenon might rouse. Freely inspired by the explorations and incredible advances made in astronomy, we transformed the venue into the point of observation of this extraordinary celestial body, in the literal sense of the term.

Tunnel
File Festival
“Tunnel” is a kinetic, immersive and interactive sculpture, composed of 92 porticos that become disordered in function of the position and body mass of the interactor. Numerous users can simultaneously enter and interact with the machine. Interactors agency the machine via their position and weight. An example of interaction is: you go into the “Tunnel” and stand by one of the side walls. In this case, the relative position and the gravitational force of your body provoke variations of floor height. The floor inclines up to 5º, the associated porticos progressively rotate in the corresponding direction and angle, and this propagates ondulatory movements throughout the entire installation. For the outside observer, the internal movement or your displacement in relation to the installation produces kinetic optic effects.

Orbit Chair in Black
In the collection, Lara Bohinc develops her stellar themes, finding inspiration in planetary and lunar orbits, whose gravitationally curved trajectories drive the lines and shapes of the chairs. Constructed from thin square rod, the chairs are elegant, minimal and delicate. They are finished in galvanised steel and wool fabrics by Kvadrat.

Mexican Space Agency
WINNER OF THE MEXICAN SPACE AGENCY’S CONTEST TO DESIGN A NEW HEADQUARTERS, SLOT’S CAMPUS DESIGN RESPONDS TO THE AGENCY’S NEED FOR COHESION, INTEGRATION AND COMMUTABILITY –VALUES THAT BECAME THE PROJECT’S INFORMING PRINCIPLES– EXPRESSED IN THE CIRCULAR LAYOUT FOR CONSTITUENT STRUCTURES. PEDESTRIAN PATHWAYS SPIRAL OUTWARD FROM THE MAIN PLAZA LYING AT THE HEART OF THE CAMPUS AND, AS IF BENDING WITH THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF THE MAIN BUILDINGS, VEHICLE ACCESS WAYS WIND IN AN AROUND THE CAMPUS SPACE.

Caten
Created for the Saint Sauveur chapel in Caen, Caten is a levitating sculpture, determined by gravity and guiding the evolution of a sound composition.
300 fine wires suspended from two ropes, connected themselves at each end to a slowly rotating arm, form an evanescent surface which interacts with the architecture. By a symbolic mirror effect, the curves of the wires, created by the gravitational force, reflect the shapes of the church arches. Caten opposes the ephemeral to the eternal, the movement to the static, and produce a tension between the lightness and the millenary stability of the space.

Oneiric Hotel
Nielsens’ Air Cuffs from Gravitational Dreams

Gravitational Bending

MOONLAND
The gravitational pull of the Moon creates tides in the Earth’s oceans and distorts the Earth’s crust. It was instrumental in the evolutionary journey of life from the sea to the land. The reproductive cycles of many flora and fauna still follow the rhythms of the Moon.