Untitled (heartbeat_study)
CEPA Gallery: Big Orbit Project Space
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MFA from the University at Buffalo, Department of Art.
2018
This investigation started with the notion of interacting with one’s corporeal physiology. All attempts at porting live heartbeat audio into the system were futile, so it ultimately transformed into a co-creative, interactive interface. While still questioning the digital representation of bodily functions, the work became more abstract than originally projected.
When two new users strap into the biometric heart rate sensors they can immediately acknowledge that they are “seeing their heartbeats” through the on-screen particle systems. Each user has their own color and the systems can be pushed around through the mouse cursor. This interpretation is of course a folly, but I find it quite interesting that modern culture is so mediated that we are starting to lose the ability to question the computational structures that represent our digital life force.
I ultimately was not able to navigate poor literature on an Arduino light dimmer so the lighting for the room was just blinking colors that matched the on-screen colors of the users. I have since stumbled upon DMX lighting so I plan to integrate that for my next installations that have interactive lighting.