Origination Point

Origination Point explores the origins of the universe through generative light and sound

Origination Point is a generative interactive projection installation originally exhibited at the 12th Havana Biennial in Havana, Cuba as part of the collective exhibit Entre, Dentro, Fuera/Between, Inside, Outside and in 2016 at The Harwood Museum, Taos, New Mexico.

As part of Agnes Chavez’s Projecting Particles series and inspired by her Educational Outreach research stay at ATLAS@CERN in Geneva Switzerland, this work explores spacetime, our origins in the universe and how matter was created after the big bang through the newly discovered Higgs field. In Origination Point, Chavez contemplates humanity’s shared subatomic origins in relation to her Cuban-American origins to express that we are more than the physical bodies and socio-cultural identities we construct.

Through a collaboration with artist Marcel Schwittlick, who programmed the code, Origination Point features images of self-generating ‘rocks’ that are transformed in real time exploring the evolution of matter and our wave/particle duality. The images are projected onto a wall of hanging fabric strips creating mesmerizing movements in rhythm with an interactive soundtrack. The interactive composition designed and programmed by sound designer Robert Schirmer includes sounds from NASA’s field recordings of outer space accompanied by terrestrial nature sounds. Through an interactive sensor the visitor moves rocks in and out of a circle on the ground. This process adds layers of water, space and earth sounds designed to shift one’s perception and emotional response to the projected visuals.

Collaborating Team: Artists: Agnes Chavez (artist/concept), Marcel Schwittlick (visual artist/coder), Robert Schirmer (interactive sound). Special thanks to UNM Art Graduate Student assistants in Havana: Abbey Hepner, Christine Posner, Julianne Aguilar, Adrian Pijoan

Origination Point is available for commission as a temporary indoor installation