Pulse Machine
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Pulse Machine
5:29
kick drum, solenoid, flip digit numerals, Arduino micro controller, mixed media
with commentary by
This electromechanical sculpture was “born” in Nashville, Tennessee, on 2 June 2012, at 6:18 PM. It has been programmed to have the average human lifespan of babies born in Tennessee on that same day: approximately 78 years.
The kick drum beats the sculpture’s pulse at 60 beats per minute, and the mechanical counter displays the number of heartbeats remaining in its lifetime. An internal, battery-operated clock keeps track of the passing time when the sculpture is unplugged.
The sculpture will ‘die’ once the counter reaches zero.
