2018
Space is the Place by Roberto Paci Dalò is a performance for radio telescope sounds and modular synth. The project is a hommage to composer and poet Sun Ra and in particular his Space Is the Place film and album.

Space is the Place works on radio signals collected at the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station – INAF National Institute for Astrophysics ‘Northern Cross’ (Italy). The signals are converted into audible sounds by human ear in order to create a data base which is used in conjunction with live electronics for the performance presented in world prèmiere on 25th June at SciArt Summer School on Big Data. The performance is followed by a lecture where the artist presents a showcase of art & science projects created internationally through more then 2 decades. The main categories of this body of works are: interactive installations for museums, performing arts, radio & telematic performances.

Sun Ra

The project is a hommage to composer and poet Sun Ra and in particular his Space Is the Place film and album. Space Is the Place is an 85-minute Afrofuturist science fiction film made in 1972 and released in 1974. It was directed by John Coney, written by Sun Ra and Joshua Smith, and features Sun Ra and his Arkestra. During the late-1960s and early-1970s, Sun Ra and his ensemble made several forays to California. In 1971, Sun Ra taught a course, “The Black Man in the Cosmos”, at University of California, Berkeley. Over the course of these California visits, Sun Ra came to the attention of Jim Newman, who produced the film based, in part, on Sun Ra’s Berkeley lectures.

Medicina Radio Astronomical Station – INAF National Institute for Astrophysics ‘Northern Cross’ (Italy)

Space is the Place by Roberto Paci Dalò (Usmaradio)

Visit the project

Credits

production
Giardini Pensili

in collaboration with
JRC Resonances Festival
SciArt Summer School on Big Data 2018
European Commission

Thanks to
INAF National Institute for Astrophysics

Year: 2019
Duration: 29:30
Created for Radia