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Documentation of an audiovisual performance for radio telescope, artificial intelligence and self-playing organ.

Located outside of the venue, the radio telescope listens to the vastness of space. The received electromagnetic waves are transferred to the audible frequency range. Electronic noises, hums and beeps fill the air. An algorithm transcribes the noise of the universe into midi tones, which are reproduced by the organ with the help of an electronic apparatus. During the play various selection and filtering methods (e.g. specific artificial intelligences) are applied in a determined order, serving as a kind of score and dividing the piece into three main chapters. The artists on stage have a set of parameters available to respond live to the incoming signals, using both the radio telescope and the AI as musical instruments. On the floating canvas above the stage, the sounds turn into abstract images, into a visual representation of what is heard.
Little by little, neural networks take control over the organ and seek for known harmonies in these non-worldly noises, for the smallest traces of human music. In the last chapter, ideas of melodies evolve as the artificial intelligence begins to fantasize about familiar tunes in these archaic sounds from outer space.

In collaboration with Christian Losert.

Thanks to Sebastian Müllauer for the telescope and Klaus Holzapfel for his Orgamat.

Duration: 25 - 35 minutes