In a world where connection facilitates contacts that often remain sadly distant, Laura Papke and Nino Bashilasvili’s research focuses on how to bring the heartbeat back to the core.
Sonic Driving x Heartsync is an interactive biofeedback installation designed to facilitate connectedness. Through the use of low–frequency sound and data–generated visual compositions driven by the heartbeats of up to six participants, processes of interception and synchronisation are stimulated.
The project applies this technique by using pulse sensors that capture the beat of the heart. The work Sonic Driving, developed by Laura Papke, translates the data into unique low–frequency sounds, ranging between 90-120Hz, making the heartbeats not just audible but also tangible in the body. The work Heartsync, designed by Nino Basilashvili, uses the data to generate dynamic visual projections based on the individual heart rhythms and the relationships between them.
The setup encourages visitors to engage in a 15–minute audiovisual experience. Groups of up to six individuals are welcome to join in and place a sensor on their fingertip. Once a heartbeat is detected the experience commences automatically. The initial part of the journey focuses on interoception, displaying each connected heartbeat individually first. Each participant is equipped with an individual speaker positioned behind them, emitting a distinctive sound, accompanied by a dynamic visual display projected in front of them. As the session progresses, the heart rhythms’ sounds harmoniously blend into a collective symphony, while the moving lights form various visuals representing the constellations and synchronisation patterns of the heartbeats.
The intention of the installation is to offer new opportunities to connect with ourselves and others in a technology–driven world and to reimagine the purpose of technology, shifting our focus towards nurturing our collective spiritual well–being. Hopefully, synchronisation can become a guiding principle for a more connected, community–oriented and caring future.
CREDITS
Luigi Gjergjaj (Programmer for Sonic Driving)
Mark van de Korput (Programmer for Heartsync)
Mariska Kret (Professor at Leiden University, Researches Heart Synchronisation)
BIO
Laura Papke x Nino Basilashvili are two interdisciplinary artists based in the Netherlands. In their works they are investigating heartbeat synchronisation. Laura explores this phenomenon through the use of low-frequency sound in her work, Sonic Driving. In Heartsync, Nino explores synchronisation through data-driven visual compositions. Their joint vision is to cultivate communal well-being by crafting audiovisual experiences that foster deeper connections.
This project is realized as part of “The Body is a Movement”, a project by Onomatopee and Baltan Laboratories.
During Design Week Public Program, Onomatopee and Baltan Laboratories will present the project with a talk on rethinking the importance of the body (and corporeity) in the contemporary cult of hyper-productivity.