15-∞ min (installation form) 45 min (audiovisual live performance form).
Description:
The work is inspired by the collision of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, which was recorded by astronomers in 2017.
Neutron stars are superdense objects, 10-20 kilometres in radius and weighing about one solar mass. The speed of one revolution of a star around its axis ranges from a few milliseconds at birth, to tens of seconds as they move into a radio-quiet state, which can be compared to the death of the star. The deceleration of a radio pulsar's rotation during its evolutionary cycle is so slow that the regularity of its rotation can be compared with the accuracy of atomic clocks. Atomic clocks are suspended in the cosmos, forming a space of parallel times.
There are dual systems where two radio pulsars rotate around a common centre of mass. Over time, they converge along a spiral trajectory towards it. Convergence involves several processes with different temporalities. Stars may converge for millions of years, while the merger itself lasts for milliseconds. During the performance, the aspect of sharing a long cosmic process, compressed down to 15 minutes, becomes important. The merging of the two stars is a metaphor for the inevitability of death, implying the hyper-connectedness of matter, which is finite in one form and changes its configuration into another.
In the work, this process is depicted by the convergence of two dots, which leave a trace of the trajectory of movement. The process of movement of the dots and the visual part generates sound.
The work can be presented in 3 forms: 1) a screencast of 15 minutes duration; 2) a digital real-time version of variable length; 3) a 45 audio-visual live performance. I use hardwired musical instruments during the live performance where the main task is slowing down under the loop of the graphics.