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Toronto, Canada (Top40 Charts/ TELUS) - Blending the intimate with the spectacular in one of Toronto's best-loved, high-traffic public spaces, Luminato proudly announces the world premiere of Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12, commissioned by and premiered at Luminato, curated by The Power Plant and co-produced with Harbourfront Centre and sponsored by TELUS. Pulse Front is a ground-breaking technical and artistic marvel developed by renowned electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.
Nightly at dusk beginning May 31 through June 10, Pulse Front will illuminate the skies over Harbourfront Centre with 200,000 watts of power projecting light beams visible from 15 km away. The installation will be the largest ever produced and is designed to elicit constant, personal interaction through an ever-evolving parade of interactive light sculptures ? all generated by the heart rate of on-site participants.
"I definitely consider this to be a signature item of Luminato," said Janice Price, Luminato CEO. "Just imagine a mesmerizing matrix of moving light beams streaming above Harbourfront Centre, projected by 20 of the world's most powerful searchlights and actually controlled by the presence of passers-by! This is certain to be among the most innovative and truly awe-inspiring programs within Luminato."
Interactivity is achieved via 10 metal sculptures each embedded with biometric sensors positioned along the waterfront. These sculptures will be able to detect the pulse of participants by touch, sensing individual systolic and diastolic readings that will be immediately converted into pulses that determine the orientation of the light beams. All 20 robotic searchlights will simultaneously project beams creating an ever-changing matrix of illuminations that will transform the visual landscape of Toronto's waterfront.
"Pulse Front's highly engaging and stunning merger of art and technology is sure to ignite a deep appreciation for creative innovation within Canadians," said Dan Golberg, vice-president, Small Business, TELUS Business Solutions. "At TELUS, we believe that Canada's future is built by young innovators and as such, we are committed to supporting initiatives such as the Luminato festival, in order to make a real difference in the lives of Ontarians. By taking a lead in business, culture, education, healthcare, sports and the community, TELUS will continue to make the future friendly for all Canadians. We are very proud to be a valued partner of the Luminato festival."
Pulse Front is the creation of Mexican-Canadian electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer who derived it from his interest in biometrics as input for non-linear dynamic artworks. Based out of Montreal, Lozano-Hemmer's large-scale interactive public installations have been commissioned for events around the world including Millennium Celebrations in Mexico City (1999), the United Nations' World Summit of Cities in Lyon (2003) and the Expansion of the European Union in Dublin (2004).
Curated by Director of The Power Plant Gregory Burke the installation is being presented in association with the summer exhibition Auto Emotion at the gallery. "Lozanno-Hemmer has been acclaimed around the world for his large scale interactive works he describes as anti-monuments. It is a dream come true to be able to realize such a work in Canada for the first time, and that is thanks to Luminato and TELUS. With Pulse Front the heartbeats of participants will become luminous autographs projected into the sky, based on cardiograph readings that record changes in physical and emotional states," said Gregory Burke.
The beginnings of his series of works using heart readings as control was displayed in Mexico City in 2006 with the installation of "Pulse Room" wherein 100 incandescent light bulbs blinked to the recorded pulse of individual members of the public, thereby creating a mesmerizing interior environment.
Pulse Front, presented by TELUS at Luminato, is the newest iteration of Pulse Room, mounted on an urban scale. Pulse Front, as in other Lozano-Hemmer works, reverses the role of the art and the viewer as the piece reads the public's participation, establishing a connection between the city and its inhabitants, between intimacy and scale. Pulse Front will be the world's largest interactive installation produced to-date and makes its world premiere in Toronto during Luminato.
