Hemmer-O-Graph
Integrating creative coding in family programming at a contemporary art museum.
Make Art with your heart
In October of 2018, the Hirshhorn Museum launched an exhibit of Raphael Lozano-Hemmer’s work, featuring three large installations of his pulse-based pieces — Pulse Index, Pulse Tank and Pulse Room. Working with its Saturday family program, Maker Mornings, I created a custom application to help explain some of the technology and concepts behind the artist’s work. Using the same pulse sensor incorporated in Pulse Tank, an Arduino, and Processing, I created a drawing program that takes the BPM of two museum-goers—likely a couple, a parent and child, or siblings—and draws a Lissajous pattern, using their heart rates to control variables. The end result is an abstract bio-portrait of the two individuals, merged as one at a single moment in time. Each pattern was printed and branded with the Museum’s logo to act as a takeaway to remember the time they spent together at the exhibit and at the museum. More importantly, it allowed us to engage families of all ages with the artwork on a deeper level, opening up conversations about hearts, oscillation, art, rhythm, and technology. I like to think that showing kids they can start building work like Raphael Lozano-Hemmer by picking up an Arduino and a pulse sensor, is the tech-art-based equivalent to showing them they can start drawing like Raphael by picking up pencil and paper.
Animation of a Lissajous pattern forming after two users input their bpm information.
Hirshhorn-branded printout produced by the program, listing the two pulses, date, and time of the pulse reading.
