Focal Point

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AudioDome cranes necks and splits ears at UAA Planetarium

Curtis Da Tortoise mixes music as images swirl.Curtis Da Tortoise mixes music as images swirl.Before the start of AudioDome on Friday night, media designer Charles Rowell had some warnings for the audience: If they started to feel dizzy, look down from the ceiling of the UAA Planetarium screen. No one has gotten sick yet from the experience, so don't be the first. And understand, the volume is part of the experience.

"It's going to be loud," Rowell said. "There's nothing we can do about that."

AudioDome, an occasional show at the Planetarium inside UAA's ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building, combines psychedelic visuals with a DJ's intense mix. Rowell created and edited the visuals that came at the audience from all angles of the planetarium's 33-foot screen. Themes traveled from space travel to Alaskan landscapes to microbiology and fractals.

Curtis Da Tortoise (Curtis Leitch) mixed the electronic music from dubstep artists such as Nero and FuntCase. While 40 people reclined in their chairs and stared at the ceiling, Tortoise was animated as he worked his laptop and console.

Think back to the first time you saw a computer screensaver and how compelling it was. You might consider AudioDome the most compelling screensaver you've seen expanding and trying to swallow you whole. A few plugged their ears from the brain-splitting volume, but none got up and left.

AudioDome is a continuation of the SonicVision series created in conjunction with KRUA DJs. Keep an eye on the planetarium's calendar page for the next opportunity to check it out.

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