The installation Event Horizon Experiment is the first part of the series Mapping the Boundaries, which places the astrophysical phenomenon of the event horizon at its centre. The event horizon is a boundary beyond which signals do not reach the observer and which is never crossed by light rays starting from beyond it. Those who cross the event horizon cannot return. Consequently, there are spaces scattered in the tissue of the universe that cannot be directly experienced. Even if we were able to look directly at the event horizon, we could never see the singularity beyond it since it is hidden from our view by the event horizon; therefore, singularity can only appear in our imagination.

We may get the closest to what takes place beyond the event horizon if we embrace phenomena reaching far beyond our everyday experiences and to experiences in our unconscious mind. The installation metaphorically examines the event horizon as a boundary and the phenomenon of singularity, where the curvature of space-time reaches infinity. During its rotation, the exhibited structure generates a force that bends the surface of the liquid inside it and thus deflects the light rays. During its repeated phases of movement, the structure accelerates itself until it focuses the light reflected from the liquid’s surface into a single spot of light. This constantly changing optical system represents ever newer attempts to visualise singularity behind the event horizon.

Dalma Kovács