ALMA Observatory, Chajnantor Valley

“Horizontes en Fuga” is an audiovisual concert we created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ALMA Observatory.

The installation took place in the ALMA hangar, three thousand meters above sea level.
This is where the antennas are assembled and maintained, so the proposal consisted of preserving one of them, on which the visuals were projected. In addition, a sound system was designed with twelve points in surround format and four subwoofers.

The project sought to interpret the knowledge and discoveries of the observatory in its 10 years of history from an artistic perspective.

The invitation was for the public to be part of the work, integrating into it, where each attendee also had the opportunity to explore the space and interact with the different events and sound structures that acted in sync with the visuals.

The sequence was mixed in Dolby Atmos, where each sound was treated as an independent object, each with its automations in terms of trajectories and positions, to create a scenography built from the sounds and the interaction of their movements.

In parallel to Dolby Atmos, we worked with Spacemap Go from Meyer Sound and its Galaxy processors, two tools with different approaches, two protocols coexisting.

The live instruments were spatialized from an iPad in real time, in sync with the visuals that were audio-reactive.

In this way, we established a dialogue between sound and visual elements through space, with two mechanisms for implementing spatial sound, from studio production to live installation.

ALMA is the largest astronomical project in the world: 66 antennas that study the electromagnetic spectra emitted by astronomical objects and their radio frequencies.

These are elements that, from music, sound, light, and art, allow us to create connections that move us.