COLLOQUY OF HEARTS...
... is a live multimedia artwork commissioned by the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and Detached Cultural Organisation which uses participant pulse data to encourage conversation between and about hearts.
Innovative furniture design, sound art and leading edge electronic sensor technology combine to create an engaging and immersive experience in which participants become aware of and respond to their own and others’ heart beats in real time.
The title is inspired by the 'conversation theory' of cybernetician Gordon Pask.
How it works
Participants relax into a comfy cardiophonic lounge suite equipped with pulse-rate monitors, exciter speakers, and its own sensor network.
Once ensconced, an immersive polyrhythmic soundscape is triggered by participant heart-beats, which shifts and changes as relaxation deepens and pulse rates vary.
The audio experience is designed so that participants overhear each others' heart rates, encouraging gradual synchronisation through the phenomenon of entrainment - and producing an intriguing and playful cardiophonic dialogue.
Artists
The work was created collaboratively by the Unconscious Collective
Concept and direction - David Patman and Michelle Boyde
Original development with Matt Warren and Jason James
Produced in collaboration with furniture designer Guy Paramore and multimedia artist Richie Cyngler.