7 November 2015

Fireworks





Dear friends,


To celebrate the opening of Spectra, I have prepared a special autumn spectacle in collaboration with the night sky titled Fireworks. The performance takes place every night, from 20 October to 30 November, with the best viewing times from 5 to12 November, between midnight and dawn.

Moving from the northeastern to northwestern sky deep in the night, the Taurid meteors will perform silent fireworks as they flare up and burn guided in their motion by the Sun and the planets.

Every year for five months, the Earth ploughs through the debris of the Taurid meteor swarm - a vast swathe of material left behind after the breakup of a super-comet in the distant past. For this performance, the swarm returns more intensely with elevated rates and an increased number of bright fireballs, with a peak for the opening of Spectra before the dawn of the 7th of November. The show continues nightly until the 30th of November.

Take a moment to find a dark spot away from the city lights. Sit or lie down under the stars for 20 minutes to let your eyes adjust to the darkness.

Enjoy the final dance of the iceballs left over from the formation of stars and planets billions of years ago, as they flare up and evaporate attracted by the pull of the Sun.

Fireworks is a durational spectacle visible to the naked eye, a choreography for a meteor swarm, the Earth, the Sun and an observer. It is a ritual of endings and returns.

It is the fifth performance in the series of my collaborations with the night sky titled Further Investigations Into Choreography, part of a larger series of collaborations with the weather titled Telling Future.

Enjoy the return!

Entrance: free
Location: worldwide
Performance times: 20 October – 30 November 2015, from midnight til dawn
Best viewing conditions: Outdoors, in the dark, in clear skies.
Dress code: warm clothes
Fireworks intensity: 5-10 fireballs an hour.

Credits: Andrea Božić in collaboration with the Taurid meteor swarm, the Sun and the weather

Spectra: Light Like a Bird, Not Like a Feather by Andrea Božić and Julia Willms at the Vienna Art Foundation - Kunstraum am Schauplatz is open 6-26 November 2015