The catalyst for Vortex is the unique and surprisingly beautiful sound produced by a vortex cannon, created by physicist, inventor and BBC science presenter Jem Stansfield. The four metre long, steel vortex cannon when fired vertically produces a vortex ring which shoots thousands of feet into the sky at very high speed – tracing a path to the edge of our breathable atmosphere.
In collaboration with composer Yannis Kyriakides, contemporary music ensemble musikFabrik, Jem Stansfield and the University of Huddersfield, IOU is creating Vortex – a music and sound project which continues the theme of natural forces and phenomena developed from IOU’s Artistic Director David Wheeler’s time in Antarctica.