Graham Tunnadine

Black Hole

St Marks Square,

58th Venice Art Biennale, 2019

 

& "Black Hole Telescope" in The London Group at The Waterloo Festival 2019

 

(Unsanctioned site-specific Polagram* sculpture intervention)

 

How do we decide what is true in this age of doubt?

 

 

The sculpture "Black Hole Telescope" is not a real telescope. It employs an illusion adapted from 3D cinema. It tricks the viewer into believing there is a black hole far away in the sky.

It is not an actual Black Hole in the astronomical sense. But when we consider the "real" black holes of science, we must piece together in our minds the difficult concepts of mathematics, Einstein's (and other) theories, Event Horizons, illustrations, explanations and now an actual image re-composited collaboratively from multiple telescopes from the four corners of the world. The scientific image announced last month, is the current “best estimate” of what we know of Black Holes, an aspect of the universe. But in the age of doubt we find it hard to say that what we see is in fact a fact. The image is imagined, and between those two words doubt creeps in. As we look to the skies where we once imagined heaven, there is now a void.

 

It has always been important to question what we see. It is essential to distinguish between what is and isn’t real. But since Hiroshima there is a dwindling trust in progress, The Enlightenment and Modernism which no longer have the same authority.

New thinking is not a bad thing by any means, but the crisis of doubt has created an inertia and an inability to tackle the important and urgent issues such as climate change and extinction.

 

By staring into the void, “Black Hole” attempts to act as a catalyst for discussion around ideas of truth, doubt, reality, perception and action, in these times of uncertainty.

 

 

“Black Hole” was first exhibited during the 58th Venice Biennale in May 2019 in St Mark’s Square, Venice: the birthplace of the telescope. A new version will be specially created for the Waterloo Festival.

 

Graham Tunnadine May 2019

 

 

 

Click here to try out the stereo view of the Black Hole.

 

 
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.

 

How do we decide what is true in this age of doubt?

 

The sculpture "Black Hole Telescope" is not a real telescope. It employs an illusion adapted from 3D cinema. It tricks the viewer into believing there is a black hole far away in the sky.

It is not an actual Black Hole in the astronomical sense. But when we consider the "real" black holes of science, we must piece together in our minds the difficult concepts of mathematics, Einstein's (and other) theories, Event Horizons, illustrations, explanations and now an actual image re-composited collaboratively from multiple telescopes from the four corners of the world. The scientific image announced last month, is the current “best estimate” of what we know of Black Holes, an aspect of the universe. But in the age of doubt we find it hard to say that what we see is in fact a fact. The image is imagined, and between those two words doubt creeps in. As we look to the skies where we once imagined heaven, there is now a void.

 

It has always been important to question what we see. It is essential to distinguish between what is and isn’t real. But since Hiroshima there is a dwindling trust in progress, The Enlightenment and Modernism which no longer have the same authority.

New thinking is not a bad thing by any means, but the crisis of doubt has created an inertia and an inability to tackle the important and urgent issues such as climate change and extinction.

 

By staring into the void, “Black Hole” attempts to act as a catalyst for discussion around ideas of truth, doubt, reality, perception and action, in these times of uncertainty.

 

 

“Black Hole” was first exhibited during the 58th Venice Biennale in May 2019 in St Mark’s Square, Venice: the birthplace of the telescope. A new version will be specially created for the Waterloo Festival.

 

Graham Tunnadine May 2019

 

 

Black Hole

2019

 

St Marks Square,

58th Venice Art Biennale, 2019

 

& "Black Hole 2" in The London Group at The Waterloo Festival 2019

 

(Unsanctioned site-specific Polagram* sculpture intervention)

 

 

 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.

Black Hole series

 

 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.
 *Click image for the Wikipedia link. Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope 11th April 2019. Imagined from the data & created 10th April 2019. This is the best representation of an actual black hole that we have to date. Nevertheless it is a translation into an image that is visible to us, of the data from multiple synchronised telescopes spread across the world . At the limits of our vision or the extent of our technology lies the fuzzy boundary between what we know and what we imagine.