We still haven’t recovered from the news of David Bowie’s passing, and we probably won’t anytime soon, but the latest effort from Mondragón reminds us of the universal reach of the Starman’s body of work, as he was one of the most important figures to embrace space metaphors in his art.
Mondragón’s “Sincronía” is a more literal take on cosmic themes, since it samples authentic sounds from our universe. Scientists from the ALMA Observatory in Atacama, Mexico captured the sounds as part of Sónar Festival’s Sonidos del ALMA project, which aims to link artists with sounds emitted by astronomical objects. The video, directed by Daniela Torres, almost feels like it comes in two acts. The first half is a collage of images of microorganisms, eclipses, and distant mountain ranges washed in a fish-eye filter. In the second act, abstract images of planet Earth and antennae flash across the screen as the beat picks up. Paired up with the slow and austere programming, it’s like we’re embarking on our own outer space expedition.