The exhibition, launched at business creativity conference C2 Montreal, aims to give people a meditative experience and let them feel connected to the cosmos and the natural world.
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Last week, Dax Dasilva announced his return as CEO of Montreal-based Lightspeed will be permanent as the technology company he founded approaches revenues above $1 billion, but on Tuesday he was launching an immersive experience intended to help people connect with something bigger than themselves.
The Black Hole Experience, launched at business creativity conference C2 Montreal, aims to give people a meditative experience and let them feel connected to the cosmos and the natural world.
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“Sometimes we think that we are so dominant on this planet, nothing is bigger than us. We don’t have a sense of awe or wonder about nature and I think those moments when you experience a mountain, or the ocean, or something cosmic like the eclipse, or a black hole, it makes us feel connected to something bigger than us,” Dasilva said in an interview.
The experience is being presented through Age of Union Alliance, Dasilva’s environmental initiative. While there is information about the non-profit’s conservation projects at the end of the presentation, he said the experience is intended to be primarily a personal one.
“We don’t have an agenda. It’s great if people understand that this is connected to a project about nature and actually start to see the cosmos as part of nature,” Dasilva said. “It’s just a very personal experience and, for us, it’s a way to sort of combine a spiritual experience with a nature experience.”
Visitors enter through a room where silhouettes of plants, animals and people light up with their movement. That light follows visitors through a tunnel and to the main section of the experience, where the light appears to be caught and absorbed by a black disc.
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That black hole, created with special light-absorbing paint, becomes a centre of focus as viewers watch a video component on a curved screen that gives them a sense of movement.
“The paint is made of microfilaments,” said Kelly Nunes, the artist who created the experience. “So, imagine a little dense jungle where the light that enters it doesn’t have the ability to bounce back out.”
Throughout the experience, Nunes said, light is used to emphasize connections and the idea that “we’re all made up of the same cosmic stuff.”
The creation of the experience was both an artistic and technical challenge, as it’s built on a truck trailer for easy transport. It will travel to Toronto for Pride in June, to a festival in Arizona in July and will then stop in Ontario again in August before returning to Montreal for the Mutek festival from Aug. 20 to 25.
Dasilva said the black hole can also be a focal point for meditation.
“What’s nice about this is you don’t need to be an expert in meditation to get into a meditative state. You fixate on the black hole — it’s sort of a guide for you as a meditator,” he said.
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In February, Dasilva temporarily returned to the CEO job at payments technology company Lightspeed, around two years after he left it and became executive chair of the company’s board.
As Lightspeed announced its fourth quarter results last week, it confirmed Dasilva’s return will be permanent.
“We are in a different phase of the company. We are in a profitable growth phase,” he said.
Before, he said, the company’s main focus was growth, but it has now been profitable for three quarters on an adjusted EBITDA basis — a financial metric that adjusts for irregular items when calculating earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization.
The company reported a net loss of US$32.5 million during the quarter that ended March 3, down from US$74.5 million during the equivalent period the year before.
“You need to be a strong grower, but we also need to show profit and, I think, create efficiency in the business,” Dasilva said.
Last month, the company cut 280 employees, which it estimates will lower operating expenses by 10 per cent.
This fiscal year, Lightspeed expects to have more than US$1 billion in revenue. Dasilva said he sees opportunity to win new customers to the company, which sells point-of-sale and payments software, and to offer additional products to existing customers, like loans.
After two years focusing on Age of Union, during which he visited the organization’s 10 conservation projects, Dasilva said, he’s excited to be back at the company he founded in 2005.
“I have a new energy for it. It’s incredible to be back in the office and feel that vibe, such brilliant people. It’s an unexpected return, but I’ve never been happier.”
The Black Hole Experience continues through Thursday, May 23 as part of the C2 Montreal conference at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal, and is open to conference participants.
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