Black Hole Experience Premieres at C2 Montreal

In between creative coaching sessions, interactive workshops, and lively discussions with business executives, hundreds of attendees at the business conference C2 Montreal on May 21-23 briefly stepped into another dimension and considered their place in the cosmos.

Outside the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal, a 53-foot black trailer held the Black Hole Experience, a meditative journey into a simulated black hole inspired by Age of Union founder Dax Dasilva, whose book Age of Union delves into the role that spirituality can play in environmental movements. The Black Hole Experience was designed for Age of Union by Kelly Nunes, a multidisciplinary artist known for visually arresting and immersive projects.

With its emphasis on addressing the crucial issues that will shape the future, C2 Montreal was an ideal setting for the public launch of the Black Hole Experience as attendees were already in a big-picture state of mind. 

More than 1,400 visitors to the Black Hole Experience set aside business topics for a few moments as they walked through a tunnel flickering with light into a broad room where a black disc representing the black hole appeared, enveloped on all sides by celestial dynamics similar to a planetarium. People were encouraged to take deep breaths, stretch, rest their bodies in cozy chairs, and focus their minds on the black disc, made with light-absorbing black paint, to induce a meditative state.  

Some attendees reported feeling moved by the experience to think more expansively about their lives and the fantastical nature of the universe.

“It made me feel … at the intersection between calming and firing my nervous system,” said Christelle, a visitor at C2.

Others simply enjoyed the otherworldly excursion. Age of Union will be bringing the trailer to several other events throughout the summer, giving many more people the opportunity to step inside and reflect on reality. 

Age of Union invests in grassroots conservation, supporting, for example, forest defenders in Indonesia, coastal protectors in Trinidad, and Indigenous stewards of the land in Montreal. The group also works in other ways to protect biodiversity and support the transition away from fossil fuels. By instilling in participants a sense of awe that they can then carry into their daily lives, the Black Hole Experience is part of the nonprofit’s larger mission to inspire environmental activism worldwide. 

Dasilva spoke about the importance of cultivating hope and translating abstract ideas into action while in discussion with Indy Johar of Dark Matter Labs, the photographer Richard Mosse, and the intellectual property lawyer Chantale Coulombe.  

The climate crisis demands radical change across society, both on individual and systemic levels, to bring about a regenerative economy that prioritizes the health of air, land, and water, and allows people everywhere to thrive. 

When someone absorbs the idea that all life on Earth is interconnected, it becomes easier to take action on behalf of other species and ecosystems, communities, and countries. Not everyone’s life will be changed by the Black Hole Experience, but some may feel newly inspired and dedicate more of their time to protecting the tiny sphere surrounded by dark matter that they call home.

“We have emerged from 14 billion years of cosmic evolution to arrive at a moment in history where there is life,” said Nunes. “Let’s understand the significance of this moment by observing the scale of that which came before us.”