A research and development residency and open-studio, Performance Space, Sydney, 2004
Cardiomorphologies v.1 was presented as a part of the ‘Headspace’ artist residency and creative development program of Performance Space during July – August 2004. The work was installed, tested and exhibited over a period of five weeks, during which time, over eighty visitors participated in the work and its associated interview process.
Individual participants were seated in a comfortable reclining chair positioned in the centre of the darkened gallery space, before a large floor-to-ceiling video projection of a series of concentric circles. The circles expanded and contracted in response to breath-related movements and changes in heart rate, and were superimposed with a bar graph displaying a real time frequency analysis of their heart rate patterning. Visitors to the installation could observe participants interacting with the work, from seats placed behind the participant. Over a period of time ranging between ten to thirty minutes, individual participants observed and experimented with modifications to aspects of their breathing, heart rate and psychophysiology, as revealed to them through both the audio and visual components of the work, and with their own felt sense of themselves interacting with the work.
Credits
George Poonkhin Khut – installation concept, design and art direction, John Tonkin – data analysis algorithms and visualisations (JAVA) Sophie Gibson – event production and logistics, Performance Space (Sydney) Fiona Winning and Blair French – residency curators, Performance Space (Sydney)
Detailed Description
Breathing movements collected from a respiratory strain gauge attached around the participant’s chest or abdomen were translated into a synthesized breathing sound, generated from white-noise that was filtered and amplified according to the velocity and rate of the participant’s breathing. The resulting sound varied from a light hissing sound to an extremely deep rumbling sound, like the crashing of ocean waves or a roaring furnace-like sound. Individual heartbeats detected using the Waverider electrocardiogram were used to trigger a strong sub-bass pulse sound reminiscent of the low frequency throbbing of an actual beating heart. Increases in heart rate were indicated by increasing the timbrel brightness of this heartbeat sound, as well as by asee-sawing tonal pattern played out by a bell-like drone that responded to the rising and falling of breath related changes in heart rate (respiratory sinus arrhythmia).
Each interaction lasted between ten to thirty minutes (maximum), and participants were free to conclude their interaction at any stage. Participants were invited to observe and differentiate relationships between breath movement and heart rate as revealed through changing diameters of the coloured concentric circles in the video projection and the sound of the work, and see if they could influence the phase relationships between the expanding and contracting movements of the respective circular visualisations. This task oriented approach required a process of verbal and
practical induction that could sometimes take up to ten minutes, during which I (as the artist/operator/facilitator) would explain how breath and heart rate related changes were reflected in the look and sound of the work, and suggest some ways that participants could initiate and then observe some changes in their heart rate and breathing patterns as revealed through the work and their own felt sense.
Interviews were recorded with many of the installation participants at the conclusion of their interaction with the work. These interviews lasted up to twenty minutes, during which participants reflected on aspects of their experience they found interesting, the extent to which they felt they were able to sense and perhaps influence the behaviours being monitored, aspects of the experience they found confusing or frustrating, and any suggestions they had as to how the work might be further developed in the future.
Cardiomorphologies v.1
A research and development residency and open-studio, Performance Space, Sydney, 2004
Cardiomorphologies v.1 was presented as a part of the ‘Headspace’ artist residency and creative development program of Performance Space during July – August 2004. The work was installed, tested and exhibited over a period of five weeks, during which time, over eighty visitors participated in the work and its associated interview process.
Individual participants were seated in a comfortable reclining chair positioned in the centre of the darkened gallery space, before a large floor-to-ceiling video projection of a series of concentric circles. The circles expanded and contracted in response to breath-related movements and changes in heart rate, and were superimposed with a bar graph displaying a real time frequency analysis of their heart rate patterning. Visitors to the installation could observe participants interacting with the work, from seats placed behind the participant. Over a period of time ranging between ten to thirty minutes, individual participants observed and experimented with modifications to aspects of their breathing, heart rate and psychophysiology, as revealed to them through both the audio and visual components of the work, and with their own felt sense of themselves interacting with the work.
Credits
George Poonkhin Khut – installation concept, design and art direction,
John Tonkin – data analysis algorithms and visualisations (JAVA)
Sophie Gibson – event production and logistics, Performance Space (Sydney)
Fiona Winning and Blair French – residency curators, Performance Space (Sydney)
Detailed Description
Breathing movements collected from a respiratory strain gauge attached around the participant’s chest or abdomen were translated into a synthesized breathing sound, generated from white-noise that was filtered and amplified according to the velocity and rate of the participant’s breathing. The resulting sound varied from a light hissing sound to an extremely deep rumbling sound, like the crashing of ocean waves or a roaring furnace-like sound. Individual heartbeats detected using the Waverider electrocardiogram were used to trigger a strong sub-bass pulse sound reminiscent of the low frequency throbbing of an actual beating heart. Increases in heart rate were indicated by increasing the timbrel brightness of this heartbeat sound, as well as by asee-sawing tonal pattern played out by a bell-like drone that responded to the rising and falling of breath related changes in heart rate (respiratory sinus arrhythmia).
Each interaction lasted between ten to thirty minutes (maximum), and participants were free to conclude their interaction at any stage. Participants were invited to observe and differentiate relationships between breath movement and heart rate as revealed through changing diameters of the coloured concentric circles in the video projection and the sound of the work, and see if they could influence the phase relationships between the expanding and contracting movements of the respective circular visualisations. This task oriented approach required a process of verbal and
practical induction that could sometimes take up to ten minutes, during which I (as the artist/operator/facilitator) would explain how breath and heart rate related changes were reflected in the look and sound of the work, and suggest some ways that participants could initiate and then observe some changes in their heart rate and breathing patterns as revealed through the work and their own felt sense.
Interviews were recorded with many of the installation participants at the conclusion of their interaction with the work. These interviews lasted up to twenty minutes, during which participants reflected on aspects of their experience they found interesting, the extent to which they felt they were able to sense and perhaps influence the behaviours being monitored, aspects of the experience they found confusing or frustrating, and any suggestions they had as to how the work might be further developed in the future.