Sellout success for swimming baths science show
Published: 24 November 2023
A show which brought a unique fusion of science and music to Glasgow’s Arlington Baths Club was a sellout success.
A show which brought a unique fusion of science and music to Glasgow’s Arlington Baths Club last weekend was a sellout success.
https://youtu.be/KZ-L2xEBSQQ
All 180 tickets for the Swimming with Gravitational Waves event on Saturday 18th November were sold in advance of the performance, which brought together physicists from the University of Glasgow, musicians and sonic artists.
Across three hour long-sessions, visitors to the baths enjoyed an introduction to the science of gravitational waves from a University physicist followed by a 45-minute musical performance from audiovisual artists Leon Trimble and Joel Cahen, aka PlutonOvarian.
Dr Andrew Spencer, of the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research, helped to organise the event and delivered the introductory lectures alongside colleague Dr Graeme Eddolls. The event was supported by funding from the Institute of Physics Scotland.
Dr Spencer and Dr Eddolls are part of the research group at the University which has made key contributions to the development of gravitational wave detectors – highly sophisticated machines capable of sensing the ripples in spacetime caused by massive cosmic events like the collision of black holes.
He said: “We were delighted that Swimming with Gravitational Waves was received so enthusiastically in Glasgow.
“The city is home to one of the world’s leading gravitational research groups and it was great to have the chance to explain some of our work to local people before they got into the pool and experienced ripples of sound above and below the water.
“We will be bringing the show to other venues in Scotland next year, so look out for future announcements.”
Feedback collected from attendees after the Arlington Baths Club event was overwhelmingly positive, with many reporting that their interest in physics had increased as a result of their visit.
The success of the show follows its similarly sold-out debut at a swimming pool in Birmingham in June. Both events were created by Leon Trimble.
He said: “It was fantastic to be able to play at the Arlington Baths Club to a capacity crowd. It’s clear that there’s a real appetite for this kind of performance and I’m looking forward to working with the team at the University of Glasgow on future events.”
First published: 24 November 2023
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