Wollongong planetarium Science Space to host immersive show on gravitational waves including music and art

You don't have to be a science nerd to enjoy Particle/Wave, according to its director Alicia Sometimes. The show is a creative look at the discovery of gravitational waves - from Einstein's idea to how they affect daily life.

"It's really a love story of gravitational waves and we've used lots of scientists and artists to create this big multi-medium show," she said.

"You sit back and look up and become immersed in the wonder of the story of gravitational waves.

"In 2016, the presence of gravitational waves was discovered - and that had gone all the way back to Einstein, his theories in 1915.

"That journey from being in someones' head to actually happening, it was so amazing I just wanted to bring it to audiences."

She said it's like an all immersive movie made for the dome, with musician Andrew Watson performing the soundtrack live.

"He plays violin, but he also has loops and pedals that border on a space station," Ms Sometimes said.

The show is a creative look at the discovery of gravitational waves. Theye did a lot of research with scientists at ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) and spoke to scientists like Alan Duffy, Katie Mack and more. It is a great look at art being inspired by science.

It has had sell out seasons at Melbourne International Arts Festival and World Science Festival Brisbane and was given an Outstanding Award at the Jena Fulldome Festival (Germany) in May this year.

In October it will be in London as part of New Scientist Live and will be touring Melbourne, Adelaide and Wollongong during Australian Science Week.

It's the second planetarium show Sometimes has produced. Her previous directorial effort looked at the beginning of the universe.

"I'm passionate about art and science because I think it's sort of a key that unlocks that wonder into the universe," she said.

"I've always thought the two of them go together beautifully and tell a human story about the universe."

She hopes people walk away from watching Particle/Wave having a "sense of awe" where the human race is from and a sense "the universe is a bigger place than we could possibly imagine".

"It's also a human story and it's a story about how people triumph if they want to, if they share a common goal," Ms Sometimes said.

Particle/Wave is at Science Space Wollongong, August 15 from 6pm. For details: http://particle-wave.com/