THOMASAGERGAARDWORKS
HUMAN
DREAMS
VISIONS
of the
UNIVERSE
PRESSE
"Humans have always been fascinated and captivated by the vault of heaven. A starry night sky can make one dizzy as we are drawn into the depths of the universe, with thoughts wandering here and there. We have drawn and written, calculated and measured our way toward the reality we know today. And still, we set new goals that defy all reason. We create machines, satellites, and rockets that are meant to take us to the Moon and Mars. And we explore distant solar systems for planets where life might thrive.
Meanwhile, we discuss how to save Earth from ourselves. For Earth seems made for life. A strong magnetic field protects against the particle radiation of solar winds, and a dense atmosphere retains heat. Here, we find the Solar System's most diverse landscapes with lush forests, scorching deserts, snow-covered mountain ranges, and oceans of liquid water. All life on Earth – plants, insects, animals, and fish – contributes to the ecosystem, of which we are also a part.
Yet climate change is a reality, and we ourselves are affecting the balance that is a prerequisite for our existence and survival. Like fantastic beings from outer space, we make our thoughts a reality and play the leading role in the future that lies ahead for our planet. Therefore, each of us has both the opportunity and the responsibility, through our thoughts, dreams, and actions, to help preserve our home in the Solar System."
Earth – An Oasis in Space
The planet Earth is located in the habitable zone in relation to its star. Exactly like millions of other planets in our galaxy are in relation to theirs.
But unlike many others, Earth is sheltered by gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, whose immense gravitational forces attract meteors and, to some extent, protect Earth from the violent disturbances to the planet's balance caused by large meteor impacts. Additionally, from Earth's dynamic core, a magnetic field extends, surrounding the planet and shielding us from radiation and particles from the Sun, as well as cosmic radiation from the depths of the Universe.
Earth’s atmosphere acts as an extra shield, protecting the life that exists on the planet. Here, smaller meteors burn up and prevent the bombardment that the Moon's surface, with its lack of atmosphere, bears so clearly. Behind this shield exists a climate that is not ravaged by storms of tremendous power, like those seen on other planets in our solar system. Here, there is water that hasn’t frozen into ice. It’s warm and comfortable, and the poles create balance, causing ocean currents to circulate.
The Age of Humanity
We humans have gotten the idea that we are above nature—that nature is a given, just there. But the truth is probably closer to the fact that we are part of nature and that we also exist in a delicate balance, where we can easily play ourselves out of our role, causing the age of humanity to end just as it has begun.
If we take a walk through the city, we see nature sprouting through the asphalt: here a dandelion, there a mushroom. Organisms that can only sprout under the right conditions, and all organisms have their place in a circular ecosystem, where we, too, find ourselves, doing what all other living beings do: reproducing, spreading, and following the nature we are a part of.
Our success as a species is what ensures our survival. But it also threatens to destroy us.
All organisms on Earth—plants, insects, animals, and fish—are all part of the system we are a part of. They are all a part of the balance that is a prerequisite for the life we know on Earth today. And they are a prerequisite for our existence and survival.
Humanity today is a force of nature in itself, simply by the number of us. We dig, cut, spread, annihilate, build, extract, pump, and suck from the system that we are part of.
Aliens in the Ecosystem
We have developed the ability to turn our ideas into reality. We are fantastic aliens with abilities and possibilities we still don’t fully understand.
We create and build machines, satellites, and moon rockets, traveling through our solar system and setting new goals. We set goals that defy reason, and we achieve them. We visualize and imagine things, and they become reality! But with this ability comes a responsibility that none of us can escape.
We all here have a responsibility, you and me, for the system we have grown from and live in. But today, we approach this responsibility with a destructive carelessness. We compete for big and small things, for wealth and power, for space and influence. We are like teenagers, rushing through the city to the next party in a blind rush of freedom and fantasies of eternal life and boundless power, without noticing the chaos we are creating around us.
But through our will and ability to reach new goals, we have repeatedly shown that we can achieve the impossible. It is this ability that must save us from ourselves today.
But it requires a united humanity across religions, races, beliefs, power, and wealth. It requires each of us to take responsibility, to give our imagination and dreams a voice, and contribute to a more beautiful future.
Art and Science have always been relatives
Artists have often ventured into the realms of science and have written themselves into the history of science, while researchers often possess a curiosity that appeals to art, and if they are not performers themselves, the world of science is still interested in art.
The same applies to music and the visual world. Musicians are visual artists, and filmmakers use music. Music is of immense importance to film, just as film has increasingly become indispensable to music.
When one engages in combining moving images with music, one knows how quickly the two elements merge into a complete expression.
During the silent film era, cinemas featured live music to accompany what was happening on the screen. Everything from pianists on upright pianos to organists on installed organs or entire ensembles accompanied film screenings."
"Both the musician and the scientist discover new horizons in their work—they reach into the unknown. This requires imagination.
Let us assume that it is the imagination that the two fields have in common. In both realms, imagination is what initiates the work of art and science.
Imagination and creation go hand in hand. Images and music. So how do the images of science sound? Or conversely, how does music appear through the lens of science? What do Kepler's fantastic images from other galaxies sound like? What is the sound of deep-sea fish life? What does a spacewalk sound like? How does music, together with the wildest observations of science, ignite the imagination of the audience, and what does music do for the audience’s understanding of our world?
Can music explain what is so difficult to grasp when we visit the world of science? Or can music, in any case, connect the listener to the fascinating understandings of science?"
Presse
"Humans have always been fascinated and captivated by the vault of heaven. A starry night sky can make one dizzy as we are drawn into the depths of the universe, with thoughts wandering here and there. We have drawn and written, calculated and measured our way toward the reality we know today. And still, we set new goals that defy all reason. We create machines, satellites, and rockets that are meant to take us to the Moon and Mars. And we explore distant solar systems for planets where life might thrive.
Meanwhile, we discuss how to save Earth from ourselves. For Earth seems made for life. A strong magnetic field protects against the particle radiation of solar winds, and a dense atmosphere retains heat. Here, we find the Solar System's most diverse landscapes with lush forests, scorching deserts, snow-covered mountain ranges, and oceans of liquid water. All life on Earth – plants, insects, animals, and fish – contributes to the ecosystem, of which we are also a part.
Yet climate change is a reality, and we ourselves are affecting the balance that is a prerequisite for our existence and survival. Like fantastic beings from outer space, we make our thoughts a reality and play the leading role in the future that lies ahead for our planet. Therefore, each of us has both the opportunity and the responsibility, through our thoughts, dreams, and actions, to help preserve our home in the Solar System."
