Tidal Disruption: An Unforgettable Encounter with a Black Hole

The annual GLEAM outdoor art exhibition features curated, large-scale light installations in the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. With submissions from local, regional, and international artists, the annual two-month long event draws tens of thousands of visitors each fall. “Tidal Disruption,” an art-science light sculpture representative of the form and behavior of a tidal disruption event, debuted at GLEAM 2022. The installation was a collaboration between artists Hosale and Abdu’Allah, and astrophysicist Madsen. The immersive light and sound exhibit stylistically depicted the death of a star as it spirals into a black hole in a roughly 4 minute sequence. Designed primarily by Hosale, the components were custom fabricated using clear PVC pipe at the Physical Sciences Laboratory at UW-Madison. In this poster, we will describe the process of developing, fabricating, and installing “Tidal Disruption” and the response from the viewers.