Materials. Heartbeat monitor. Ultrasound sensor. Raspberry pi. ESP32 wifi board. Coding. Phyton. Supercollider. Arduino

LOVE IS (2021) is an installation of the perception of our body and the power of our hearts.

This piece was created to study how people engage and perceive space, using their own bodies to transform the soundscape they listen to. In this piece, different sounds are triggered by ultrasound sensors: sounds are activated when people move around while wearing a heartbeat monitor that sends their heartbeat to a computer. This computer uses the heart rate as a number to transform the same sounds they are triggering. I created this installation, where presence is translated into our movements around the room, and emotion is translated into the beatings of our hearts.

To perform this installation I need a dark room with enough space for people to move around and a PA system (4 speakers would be optimal). It is very simple and very powerful.

1. Entering the space. People scan a QR code to access an online PDF with an introduction, a set of instructions, and quotes from Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar about love.

2. Accessing the PDF. The QR gives access to this PDF, where the first page contains an introduction and instructions for the installation, and the second page a scientific text next to a poetic reflection on deforestation to reinforce the message of the artwork.

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3. Wearing the heartbeat monitor. these monitors are the ones sending the heart rate to the computer, once every second. When the rate is received, it interacts with the sounds that are being played at that moment, changing the different qualities of the soundscape!

4. Exploring the space. ultrasound sensors (triggers) are set around the room, and when a participant crosses in front of one of them, it activates a specific sound in the computer that was assigned beforehand, flooding the room with a new-sounding texture.

In the dark, it feels something like this.

Check out more Participatory Sound Installations HERE