Resonance
Niels Bohr Institute
Copenhagen, Denmark
2024
Resonance, 2024
Coated glass sphere, aluminum profile, wood,
sensors, speaker, cables, electronics
Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Resonance (2024) is a work activated by the detection of gravitational waves—cosmic events resulting from the merging of astrophysical bodies such as black holes or neutron stars. These ripples travel through the fabric of spacetime and eventually reach Earth, where they are detected by LIGO, an international network of highly sensitive observatories positioned around the globe.
The work receives real-time alerts of such detections and responds to each event by generating a unique, live sonic composition.
Resonance is also equipped with multiple sensors that gather information from its surroundings. This environmental data is integrated into the composition, shaping a soundscape born from the interplay between the cosmic and the terrestrial. The resulting sound is emitted from a speaker housed within a glass sphere, whose physical properties naturally influence the acoustic outcome. It is as if the gravitational pulses disturb the body of the work, prompting it to respond with waves of sound.
It is not a work that continuously reveals itself to the viewer; rather, it functions like an organism in a state of anticipation. It remains partially hidden until specific conditions are met—when these cosmic ripples pass through our planet and trigger an audible response within the space.
The artwork was developed during the 2024 Art & Science residency organized by the STRONG Group, a research team at the Niels Bohr International Academy dedicated to gravitational wave astronomy and strong-field gravity. The piece receives real-time alerts about candidate events from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.
It is on permanent display at the historical NBI
building.
