“Composing Data: Making Music from Space, Deep Space and Black Holes”- Dr. Valery Vermeulen (Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, University of Antwerp)

In collaboration with FIBER

In the talk “Composing Data: Making Music from Space, Deep Space and Black Holes” dr. Valery Vermeulen takes the audience on a quest on how to develop as an artist and scientist connections between music and math using new technologies and paradigms. The starting point is the visionary book “Formalized Music” of I. Xenakis from 1968, quantum gravity and Vermeulen’s background as a pure mathematician/theoretical physicist and musician. Vermeulen presents a voyage in time, space and sound trough various projects including Krystal Ball and Mikromedas. It is a journey that leads to the latest evolutions of astrophysics and how they bend and question the boundaries of human scientific and artistic imagination. The talk also features Vermeulen’s recent work with theoretical physicist Thomas Hertog, a former colleague and long-time collaborator of Stephen Hawking.

Valery Vermeulen is a Belgian electronic musician, music producer, mathematician, new media artist, author, guest professor at the KASK-Conservatorium School of Arts – University College Ghent and researcher at the Department of Mathematics-Computer Science at University of Antwerp (BE). In 2001 he obtained a Ph.D. in pure mathematics in the field of algebraic group theory at Ghent University (BE) and in 2013 a master’s degree in music production at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (BE). Between 2001 and 2005 Vermeulen worked at the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM, Ghent University) on a research project focusing on the link between music and emotions. Meanwhile, he started writing and recording music in my production studio. Since 2004 Vermeulen has been working on various interactive multimedia projects. Topics in his work cover a broad range of disciplines including algorithmic music composition, (generative) sound synthesis, affective computing, artificial intelligence, biofeedback & psychofysiology, creative evolutionary systems design, astrophysics, theoretical physics, econometrics and data sonification. Besides his activities as musician and multimedia artist Vermeulen currently also works as a statistical expert, data scientist and consultant.

For more information about Valery’s artistic work, you can visit his website: http://www.valeryvermeulen.net