Bernhard Gál‘s intermedia art project Sterngucker makes use of the technical and spatial possibilities of a modern planetarium, in order to present an artistic interpretation of astronomic phenomena. The planetarium is turned into an intense perceptual space for eyes and ears, offering a synaesthetic exploration of the 'starry sky above'.

The conceptual background of the installation lies in the sonification of certain astronomic properties (orbital speeds, rotation periods, mass proportions) of celestial bodies in our solar system. The collected data serve as a basis for Gál’s audiovisual composition.

Sagittarius A* is an enormous black hole located in the center of our galaxy, and the starting point of our journey. From there, we head towards our solar system, where we pay visits to all planets, and some of their moons. In doing so, the possibilities of a digital fulldome projection are tested out by artistic criteria – resulting in unusual perspectives, extreme rotational speeds and close-ups which most likely won’t have a place in traditional planetarium shows. Astronomic peculiarities are interpreted acoustically and visually, outlooks from the respective celestial bodies onto the ever-changing starry sky reveal the limitations of our own earthly perspective. Finally, we reach the ultimate destination of our voyage, and leave the virtual starship on unsteady feet.

Sterngucker

Fulldome Video Production: Belma Beslic-Gal
Thanks to: ESA, NASA, Planetarium Judenburg (Didi Kles), Planetarium Wien (Harry Halas), Stadt Judenburg - Kulturamt
Special thanks to: Belma Beslic-Gal, Hannes Fally, Jakob Schindegger
Produced by the Stadt Judenburg | Supported by BMUKK - Kunstsektion, Austria.

Presentations:
Festival Sláturtíð, Reykjavík Art Museum - Hafnarhús, Reykjavík, Iceland, October 2011
Festival Liquid Music, Judenburg, Austria, June/July 2011
Planetarium Judenburg, Austria; May 2011 (premiere)

Sterngucker is featured in Gal's book & DVD video Zwischenbrücken, edition spce | Gromoga, Austria 2015.