Atlas

In a custom-made setting, SPECTRA distributes eight musicians and speakers across the width, length and height of the Vanhaerents Art Collection. For Atlas Eclipticalis John Cage was inspired by the collection of sky maps which the Czech astronomer Antonín Becvár published in 1958. He literally took this book as point of departure: on top of the star charts he placed staves on which he drew larger or smaller dots according to the stars’ brightness. The result is a murmuring multitude of subtly buzzing dots in a sonorous firmament. Cartridge Music forms the guideline, based on random procedures that determine whether or not sounds are recorded, manipulated and spatialised in a vibrating universe. For Tierkreis Karlheinz Stockhausen based himself on astrology. Twelve melodies characterize the zodiac signs. The composition Voyager I & II Voyager I & II by Dirk Veulemans arose from the awe for space and the amazement that humans are able to send two unmanned spacecraft, Voyagers 1 and 2, to interstellar space.