Pulse Spiral
Rafael Lozano- Hmmer
Mexico City, Mexico, 1967
Lives and works in Montreal
2008
300 incandescent lightbulbs, heart rate sensor, voltage controllers, computer, custom-made electronics and software
Courtesy of the artist and bitforms gallery
Visitors to the Musée may remember the room-sized installation entitled Pulse Room, 2006, presented in the summer of 2014, with incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In Pulse Spiral, the light bulbs are arranged in a spiral paraboloid according to one of Pierre de Fermat's (1607-1665) mathematical equations. The lights are activated by a sensor that captures the visitor's heartbeat. Each heartbeat is recorded and transformed into a flash of light at the tip of the paraboloid. The whole structure then lights up entirely, and starts flashing as one according to the latest beat, after which all preceding heartbeats begin flashing again as an uncoordinated constellation of individual rhythms. The magical and evanescent spiral of light elicits the fascination one may feel as one sees one's heartbeat, and the power to activate light on such a large scale. Light is both material and subject in many of Lozano-Hemmer's participative public art projects, and throughout the exhibition light and shadow are employed to activate the space.
Pulse Spiral
Rafael Lozano- Hmmer
Mexico City, Mexico, 1967
Lives and works in Montreal
2008
300 incandescent lightbulbs, heart rate sensor, voltage controllers, computer, custom-made electronics and software
Courtesy of the artist and bitforms gallery
Visitors to the Musée may remember the room-sized installation entitled Pulse Room, 2006, presented in the summer of 2014, with incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In Pulse Spiral, the light bulbs are arranged in a spiral paraboloid according to one of Pierre de Fermat's (1607-1665) mathematical equations. The lights are activated by a sensor that captures the visitor's heartbeat. Each heartbeat is recorded and transformed into a flash of light at the tip of the paraboloid. The whole structure then lights up entirely, and starts flashing as one according to the latest beat, after which all preceding heartbeats begin flashing again as an uncoordinated constellation of individual rhythms. The magical and evanescent spiral of light elicits the fascination one may feel as one sees one's heartbeat, and the power to activate light on such a large scale. Light is both material and subject in many of Lozano-Hemmer's participative public art projects, and throughout the exhibition light and shadow are employed to activate the space.