Beating Heart
year: 2020
dimension: dimensions variable
keywords: Cyborg Manifesto, Mechanical Heart
medium: PLA, motors, Arduino, Resin, Spray Paint
year: 2020
dimension: dimensions variable
keywords: Cyborg Manifesto, Mechanical Heart
medium: PLA, motors, Arduino, Resin, Spray Paint
A Machine Heart Beating in Response to Audience Proximity
Inspired by my professor’s narrative about a friend’s mechanical heart transplant and Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto,” Beating Heart features a machine heart nestled in a synthetic rib cage that beats in response to audience proximity. As an uncanny simulation of life, it blurs the line between the organic and the mechanical, inviting the viewer to reconsider the essence of identity. Whether we are human, machine, or cyborg is too meaningless to deserve discussion. In an age where technology increasingly mediates our existence, this work rejects the need for defining whether it’s human, machine, or cyborg, instead embracing a fluid identity that transcends our biological makeup. This interactive installation also captures on the essence of human relationships - our existence is not in isolation, but mediated through our interactions and connections with others.
Inspired by my professor’s narrative about a friend’s mechanical heart transplant and Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto,” Beating Heart features a machine heart nestled in a synthetic rib cage that beats in response to audience proximity. As an uncanny simulation of life, it blurs the line between the organic and the mechanical, inviting the viewer to reconsider the essence of identity. Whether we are human, machine, or cyborg is too meaningless to deserve discussion. In an age where technology increasingly mediates our existence, this work rejects the need for defining whether it’s human, machine, or cyborg, instead embracing a fluid identity that transcends our biological makeup. This interactive installation also captures on the essence of human relationships - our existence is not in isolation, but mediated through our interactions and connections with others.
“Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved.”
— Alain De Botton
3D Modeling + Spray Painting Process
Butterfly-shaped design — a symbol for transformation and rebirth
