Distortions in Spacetime

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.

In 1916, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of black holes through the equations of general relativity. Now we can use those same equations to explore the fluid nature of spacetime, in and around the most extreme place in the universe – the singularity of a black hole.

Here, beyond observation and human experience, only mathematics and imagination can comprehend what could or could not be. Distortions in Spacetime and The Scale of Things explore the science behind black holes and gravitational waves, revealing the cosmic connection between black holes, dying stars and you.

The Overview Effect

When astronauts first looked back at Earth from space, they were awestruck and humbled to see the world in its immensity and insignificance. This new perspective caused a cognitive shift in awareness known as the overview effect. It places humans as one tiny part of a vast, interlinked ecosystem – not the centre. We can get the same effect by looking at enormous canyons or stunning mountain ranges. It’s not just natural phenomena that can provoke awe and wonder though, it can be epic virtual landscapes or a VR journey through our own branching bodies.

This shift evokes a unique pattern in our brains that disrupts the area responsible for the ego and the self. Experiences of awe can have a lasting effect, increasing people’s kindness and connection to nature – the only proven driver of pro-environmental behaviour. It’s a powerful transcendent state with personal, social and environmental impact.

“There is so much emotion and beauty in science, and so much that takes place beyond the limits of our perception. If we could stand on the edge of a black hole and peer in, what astounding, undulating cosmic forces might we see? Life, death and everything in between, entwined in a dance as long as time?”

– Barnaby Steel of Marshmallow Laser Feast

Works of Nature Soundscape: Death

While developing the artworks featured in Works of Nature, Marshmallow Laser Feast conducted a series of interviews with the foremost thinkers on nature, life and the more-than-human world. These include internationally renowned cultural ecologist and geophilosopher Dr David Abram, Professor of Plant-Soil-Processes at the University of Sheffield Katie J Field, author and founder of Schumacher College Dr Stephan Harding, and biologist and bestselling author Dr Merlin Sheldrake.

In the below soundscape, they question – since everything is connected (according to science) – can anything ever really die?

Artist video

Below, Ersin Han Ersin wanders among the Victorian landscape and explains Marshmallow Laser Feast's connection to nature.