Honorary Mention
„Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001“ ist ein 45-minütiges Musikstück, mit dem sich der belgische Künstler Valery Vermeulen mit Schwarzen Löchern befasst. Die Musik wurde aus Gravitationswellendaten, Elementarteilchenflugbahndaten aus der Nähe von Schwarzen Löchern und Beobachtungsdaten von Weißen Zwergen komponiert. Das Stück kann als Musikkonzert, audiovisuelle Live-Show oder audiovisuelle Installation präsentiert werden.
Erstmals veröffentlicht wurde das von Kritiker*innen hoch gelobte „Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001“ im Dezember 2021. Das Album ist Teil des längerfristigen Multimedia-Projekts „Mikromedas“, mit dem Valery Vermeulen mit Datensonifikation, Datenvisualisierung und algorithmische Komposition experimentiert. Er arbeitet dabei stets mit Daten aus der Raumforschung sowie astrophysikalischen Simulationsmodellen nutzt. Seine neueste „Mikromedas“-Reihe trägt den Titel „AdS/CFT Series“ und widmet sich der ultimativen Challenge der theoretischen Physik; dem Versuch, die Quantenphysik mit Einsteins allgemeine Relativitätstheorie in Einklang zu bringen.
Credits
MikromedasAdSCFT001
Co produced by Concertgebouw Brugge (BE) and Baltan Laboratories (NL)
Realized with the support of
- Center for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics – KU Leuven (BE)
- Department of Mathematics – University of Antwerp (BE)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy – University of Alabama (US)
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Hertog (Institute for Theoretical Physics – KULeuven, BE)
- Prof. Dr. Mattias Kaminski (Alabama Holography Research Group – The University of Alabama, USA
- Casey Cartwright (Phd student, Alabama Holography Research Group – The University of Alabama, US)
- Dr. Ileyk El Mellah (Center for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics – KU Leuven, BE)
- Dr. Bart Ripperda (Center for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics – KU Leuven, BE)
- Dr. Fabio Bacchini (Center for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics – KU Leuven, BE)
- Prof. Dr. David Eelbode (Department of Mathematics – University of Antwerp, BE) Ripperda, Dr. Fabio Bacchini, Prof. Dr. David Eelbode
- Liebig 12 Gallery (DE)
Released on Ash International (UK)
Publishing by Touch Music/Fairwood Music UK Limited (UK)
Live visuals by Jaromir Mulders (NL)
Scientific references:
Baccini, F., Ripperda, B. et al (2019) Generalized, energy-conserving numerical simulations of particles in general relativity. II. Test particles in electromagnetic fields and GRMHD. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 240:40 (25pp). (Available from https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.00842)
Cartwright, C., Kaminski, M. Correlations far from equilibrium in charged strongly coupled fluids subjected to a strong magnetic field. J. High Energ. Phys. 2019, 72 (2019) (Available from https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.11507)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.00986 Montreal White Dwarf Data base
https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.04831 SXS Gravitational Waveform Database
With support from:
Concertgebouw Brugge (BE)
Baltan Laboratories (NL)
Department of Mathematics | University of Antwerp (BE)
Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics | KU Leuven (BE)
Alabama Holography Research Group – Department of Physics and Astronomy | The University of Alabama (US)
iMAL – Art Center for digital cultures & technology (BE)
Liebig 12 Gallery (DE)
Biography
Valery Vermeulen (BE) is a Belgian electronic musician, music producer, mathematician, guest professor at the Royal Conservatory – School of Arts Ghent (BE), researcher at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Antwerp (BE), and guest lecturere at MA ArtScience in Den Hague (NL). He holds a PhD in mathematics at as well as an MA in music production. His work covers a broad range of topics and disciplines, including (generative) sound synthesis, AI, biofeedback, astrophysics, theoretical physics, econometrics, and data sonification. His work has been widely shown and featured internationally.
Jury Statement
A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying. Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes, but what if music could also provide us with a way of sensing what black holes are all about? Valery Vermeulen highlights the inspirational role that art can play in a cross-disciplinary collaboration between art, science, and technology by deliberately positioning his work at the boundary where technological and scientific knowledge ends. Mikromedas brings in a highly inspiring speculative vision that could undoubtedly evolve the current state of the field of theoretical physics. Researchers working in quantum gravity offer an ever-increasing number of mind-bending models of reality that may never be tested by human endeavor. Thus, with this collaboration, a fictitious reality is being created in which scientific and artistic creativity are interchangeable. Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 is a 45-minute musical piece that focuses on the fascinating world of astrophysical black holes. In 2005, the mathematician, musician and artist Valery Vermeulen began an intense research and production work together with other scientists, artists, and academic institutions focusing on the ultimate quest in the field of theoretical physics today, namely the search for a theory that unites the two worlds of quantum physics and Einstein’s general theory of relativity. All the music of Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 is composed with data from numerical simulation models of astrophysical black holes and regions of extreme gravitational fields. Customized programs and systems were designed to translate large amounts of data into sound and graphics, resulting in new techniques that uncovered uncharted territory about gravitational waves or white dwarfs.