What if our pupils were black holes, absorbing and folding in on themselves everything we observe?

With this question was the birth of the concept of Black Iris.

Black Iris is a sound-focused AR (augmented reality) installation embodying a reality where our eyes’ pupils are actually black holes. These black holes continually absorb the information around us, folding in on themselves to constitute the matter with which forms our brains, and directs our bodies. This piece takes a stark and intense look at how we use our eyes and what makes up the worlds we live in.

By using Bose AR sunglasses and an immersive projection-mapped room, viewers of the art can share in the augmented experience together, but with their own relative experience of the spatialized audio, depending on which area of the room they are most focused.

Research was done by the artist on the origin of blackholes, the mysteries within them, citing again Carlo Rovelli for his theoretical physics. After compiling knowledge on the scientific side, the artist began to gather field recordings from areas of interest, extrapolating the idea of unfathomable gravity into something more relatable to humankind: -a site in Gifu, Japan, where a Gravitational Wave Detector was currently being built, one of three on earth. -a spot directly in the center of Shibuya Scramble, the location where the most people on earth intersect and cross on a daily basis.

Mixing these field recordings with sound design reflecting the sciences behind black holes, and visuals inspired by the “small red and blue digital particles we see in our eyelids when we close our eyes to blackness”, an 8 minute augmented journey was crafted for what turned out to be a diverse audience of scientists, artists, and seekers.

As the artist states it, “The aim is for a deeper questioning of what we use our eyes for, and where our focus lies throughout measured time. In addition, it intends to spark an analysis of our intimacy and closeness to the digital and physical realities we inhabit and engage with, and where our internal loyalties lie.”