Spoon & Tamago - japanese art, design and culture

Installation views of “Connect” (2011) in Tokyo | courtesy the artist

“It all starts with the heartbeat. The first sign of our existence is the beating of our own heart.”
For the last 18 years he’s been listening to, and drawing, one thing: heartbeats. The Japanese artist, who goes simply by his last name, Sasaki, hooks his subjects up to an electronic pulse monitor. He runs the cord into a speaker, picks up an airbrush gun, and begins painting what sounds like the bass on a dance floor.

This way, Sasaki has amassed a pulsating portfolio of over 1300 people and their heartbeats. That’s over 20 million heartbeats. But they all look the same, don’t they? Well perhaps that’s the very intention of the artist. He originally began his creations after traveling to Shanghai in 1995. From an interview with Azito “Thousands of people were walking on the streets and rushing from one place to another. While I was in the middle of all these people I could feel their energy and also their heartbeats.”

Installation views of “Heartbeat-Portraits” (2010) in Tokyo | courtesy the artist

source: Azito

Tweet

Related posts:

1.8 million LEGOs used to create map of Japan The Canvas Chair Doubles as Both Art and Furniture Artwork Bulges Out of the Canvas in Yuki Matsueda’s 3D Sculptures Intricate Paintings by Maki Ohkojima Spill Off the Canvas and Onto Walls