Asterism

Asterism is a composition of music and animation in the medium of virtual reality by Bill Alves. It lasts about 9 minutes. You can turn your head up or down or around in 360 degrees and see different parts of the art (the music will track your movements as well). 

Astronomy is the traditional science in which the intelligible worlds of geometry become real to our senses, traced on the sky. The Greeks called these patterns asterismos, literally "a marking with stars." Stars glimmer in this junction between the chaos of our sensible world and the mathematical ideals of the heavens.

Both the animation and the music for Asterism were created together as complementary parts of the whole artwork. The music was not "scored" to fit existing images, nor are the images a liberal "visualization" of the music. More information is available at billalves.com.

Thanks to Harvey Mudd College, the Brian Butler Fund, and Rory Walsh.