Our Melbourne Arts Festival Show Elemental is in full swing! We had opening night Sunday and our next shows are on the 15th, 18th and 22nd of October.
Elemental is a unique exploration of science, mind and the infinite universe showcased under the spectacular dome theatre of the planetarium. Poets, musicians, sound and video artists – and world renowned science writer John Gribbin – have collaborated to present the world of the most literary, dazzling and passionate stars.
For centuries, poets have looked to the skies and attempted to scribble meaning into the galaxies. The novelist Peter de Vries once wrote, 'The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination, but the combination is locked up in the safe.' What if we had a key, even if only for a moment? What if we could measure, in words, what we have only imagined? Einstein took the view, 'the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.' What if he is right?
The artists involved in this show explore four different theories of the beginnings of the universe: The Big Bang, The Theory of Everything, Dark Matter and M Theory. Are these the lost poetic lectures of the beginning of time?
The show has many exciting components: Legendary UK experimental musicians Nurse with Wound have contributed a new piece commissioned especially for Elemental, based on the theory that the resonant frequency of the Big Bang was F#. The memorable voice of the late Dr Carl Sagan – the writer and creator of the award-winning series Cosmos – is on loan for one of the works. And Martin Bush, the curator of Science Communication at the Melbourne Planetarium, uses his astronomical artistry and skill to guide us through the night sky to where the poets, sound artists and video artists await you, the audience member, alone with Science in the Dark.
Artists include:
Alicia Sometimes, Emilie Zoey Baker, Sean M. Whelan, Paul Mitchell, Ai Yamamoto, Mim Whiting, Nat Bates, Ruben Hilario, Lawrence English, Rob Kennedy, Andrew Watson, Chris Nelms, Alice Garner, Claire Fischer, and costume design by Sootie Barczak.
