Last week Angela and I went to the Dana Centre to check out a performance entitled “Flow Motion: Explorations in Eleven Dimensions“. The event set out to explain & represent the notion of String Theory and Unity through an audio collaboration between Theoretical Physicist Dr David Berman, Mathematician Dr James Sparks and Flow Motion, a multimedia artist collective headed by Edward George and Anna Piva.

In short, String Theory sets out to provide a single unified explanation / relation of all the key universal forces. The theory suggests that inside an atom, rather than stopping at electrons & quarks (the particles that make up protons and neutrons), inside these sub-atomic particles are “strings” of vibrating energy. These strings have the ability of vibrating at different frequencies, and the different frequencies give them different properties. Such effect on its properties leads to the creation of different types of matter.  The theory then goes onto suggest that these energies behave in the same way when affected by gravity, as those which are affected by electromagnetic forces. However, when this theory is applied to our universe, rather than requiring the 3 dimensions of space we have, it only works with 10 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time. This results in the theory suggesting that there are dimensions in this universe that we cannot yet see, or have not yet experienced…

For a great introduction to string theory, check out this TED Talk.

So.. how do you represent this as sound? Well musical instruments, in particular string instruments (naturally) are often used an analogy when explaining this theory. When the instruments are played, they produce vibrations of sound. The sounds are incredibly varied, but at the same time they are all vibrations, or “frequencies of energy”. Simply put, as the strings are plucked differently, they create different sounds, different frequencies, and thus have different properties. This is much like the energy frequencies of String Theory.

After an introduction to the theory by both Physicist and Mathematician, we were led upstairs for a 45 minute performance by the group. The piece was like nothing I’d ever previously encountered. Think The Fast Show’s Jazz Club, then strip it back, spin it on it’s head and elongate it through a mangle. With a variety of musicians from Cello, classically trained Violin, Guitar, Drums, Sax and even Synth, at first it made for some very difficult listening. The fact is, it was not designed to be music, but more of an unpredictable abstract wall of sound highlighting the vast possibilities and erratic nature of these frequencies of energy.

The Q and A session was particularly interesting, and helped explain how the unique composition was created. The group enlisted the help of computer programmers to produce a code that would match up elements of popular classical music with parts of the equations used to explain String Theory. They then repeatedly stripped these short series of notes back until almost unrecognisable, and then filled in the gaps with free-form experimentation to emphasise the behaviour of the “strings”.  The whole collaborative process took a few months to complete with lots of discussions, debates and ideas coming together for a final performance…

All in all, a very interesting and unique experience; one that challenged both our minds… and our ears.

Note: My brief and very basic attempt at describing String Theory barely scratches the surface. For more info check out Wikipedia’s entry.

dana centre flow motion music string theory