Li AlinH.E.A.R.T.H.
H.E.A.R.T.H. is an interactive sound installation comprising 8 bass drums, 2 heartbeat sensors, and a live musical performance. The goal is to synchronize, monitor, and convert the data of the heartbeats of two people into hits on the bass drums. While participants listen to the beats, their heart rates should slowly synchronize and end up at the same tempo.
The research legacy of H.E.A.R.T.H. addresses contemporary questions on space contamination and the porosity of multiple dimensions. How does our invisible emotional field influence the space surrounding us? How does music influence our heartbeat? Is it possible to change our heart rate by simply hearing the pulse of someone else’s? For this residency at OBORO, Alin will work on developing a new iteration of the piece which will involve a live musical performance of rhythmic drum loops derived from the real-time input of two people connected to the heart-rate monitors. Alin collaborates with the artist Greg Smith, who was involved in the creation, production, and mixing of the H.E.A.R.T.H. vinyl, as well as the composition of the soundtrack of the installation.
Greg Smith is a Montreal-based guitarist, composer, studio engineer and stop-motion animator. As both a creator and technician, he has collaborated with a variety of artists including Li Alin, Loco Locass, Chris Velan, Mack MacKenzie, Maurice G. Dantec and Eyesteel Films.
Li Alin is an artist in the field of art and new media. Her projects include a notorious internet sperm bank Eugenie supported by the Canada Council for the Arts in 1996 and the Canadian Cultural Center in Paris; the provocative sperm distribution Weisser Markt in the Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe for the exhibition Menschenpark organized by the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung directed by Peter Sloterdijk; EXPOSE, a 10–screen installation created with Cecile Martin during Mutek 2014, co-presented by Recombinant Media Labs; the multidisciplinary performance Royal Mustang presented at La Chapelle, Contemporary Scenes developed at the Tanzhaus NRW in Düsseldorf, and her ovum and sperm recruiting session Eugenie 2.0 in the dome of the Society of Art and Technology in Montreal. More recently, her first VR installation, Enter Me Tonight (EMT) was presented at the Haus der Elektronischen Künste in Basel, at Cynetart in Dresden, at REpublica in Berlin and at Digifest in Toronto. Her second VR installation, V.DREAM was premiered internationally at the Digital Biennial in Montreal (BIAN) in 2018.
