n-body is a installation featuring a custom software that simulates movements of planetary systems which is displayed on a metal pipe construction.

About the software:
The program initializes each system by randomly distributing lighter mass points around a heavier central mass point. The objects motions are calculated using the law of gravitation, meaning that each body exerts an attractive force on every other body in the system. Since the star is the most massive obiect in the system, its gravitational force significantly determines the trajectories of the planetary orbits. Additionally, due to the mutual gravitational interactions among the smaller objects, the planetary orbits are constantly perturbed and rarely follow stable paths. Over time, planets collide or drift off due to the instability of their orbits. On the screen such events are displayed as text logs and visualized in different 3D viewports. After some time has passed a new planetary system is generated. Since each system is based on different inital values the paths of the object’s motions differ each time.