This Art Installation Will Bring the Vastness of Space to III Points

Everyone and everything is equal in the eyes of a black hole.

Such is the message of the Black Hole Experience (BHX), which will make its Miami debut at III Points October 18 and 19.

Conceived by a partnership between Dax Dasilva, founder of the environmental nonprofit Age of Union Alliance, and artist Kelly Nunes, BHX is the cosmos condensed into 1,000 square feet. Consisting of a series of three interactive rooms, the art installation is intended to give participants a conceptual glimpse inside a black hole — to provoke awe at the sheer immensity of space and humility at their comparative smallness.

"I think by experiencing a black hole, you realize the interconnectedness of things," Dasilva says. "The singularity of a black hole puts it into perspective in a meditative way."

BHX has already toured the country, popping up in places like New York City's Times Square, Chicago, and Los Angeles for the city's Climate Week. Nunes and Dasilva say that regardless of where the piece has gone and who their audience has been, they've received extremely positive feedback.

"No matter what state of mind people are in when they enter the environment, when they exit, they're always really relaxed," Nunes says. "Living in cities and in the digital world that we live in today, it's fast-paced. People are quite anxious. So it's nice to have a reset. And that's definitely the effect that these installations have on people."

As for a connection with Age of Union's environmental focus, Dasilva and Nunes say they hope to inspire gratitude in participants for the fragile lives they lead on a threatened planet.

"We want to start a conversation about conservation with people, from a place of all of us being small specs in the universe, but we are all affected by the interconnected nature of our biosphere, of our common ecosystem," Dasilva says.

"We all have a common origin and a common destiny," Nunes adds.

By using art as a vessel to capture people's attention, the duo is trying to go beyond preaching to the choir about climate change and to draw in crowds that normally wouldn't engage with the subject matter.

"We really believe in art as an amazing vehicle to connect audiences to some themes surrounding nature and the environment," Dasilva says. "We can engage new audiences, not just the folks that are already coming to the table with an environmental background."

There's no way to truly tell whether people are responding to the implicit call to action in BHX's fourth and final room, which details Age of Union's ongoing efforts in environmental conservation.

"I think people feel inspired when they leave. Maybe not necessarily to go out and make change, although some people do feel that way," Nunes says. "But at least they feel inspired not to take their existence for granted here on this little rock."

See it while you can — because though this is the first time BHX comes to Miami, Dasilva says it could also be the last. The installation will be available to III Points festivalgoers from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.