Next Gen: Watching our collective heartbeats with Nino Basilashvili

Throughout the day, your heartbeat rhythm changes: it's more regular when you're relaxed and becomes erratic when you're tense. Each person has a unique heartbeat pattern. But what if our heartbeats weren't just individual rhythms, but all interconnected? What would that look like? That's precisely the concept explored by Heartsync, an interactive art installation crafted by artist Nino Basilashvili. This artwork is able to sync up your heartbeat with others. 

To Basilashvili, the synchronization of our heartbeats stands as a symbol of deep human connection.

To Basilashvili, the synchronization of our heartbeats stands as a symbol of deep human connection. Raised by parents who fled from the Soviet Union to the Netherlands, the artist questioned home and belonging from a young age. Moving from one refugee asylum center to another, they navigated the complexities of cultural identity and societal integration, searching for a sense of rootedness in a world marked by constant flux.

It was amidst this journey of self-discovery that the concept of Heartsync began to take shape. Using heart rate sensors and soundscapes, Heartsync guides participants through a series of rhythmic exercises designed to slow down their heartbeats and align them with the group.

Heartsync invites us to pause, breathe, and connect to each other, ourselves, and to the world around us.

As the session unfolds, individual heartbeats merge and intertwine, forming visual patterns that dance across the floor. Heartsync invites us to pause, breathe, and connect to each other, ourselves, and to the world around us. In an age marked by division and discord, it hopes to give out feelings of unity and oneness in a world that can feel divided.

Stay up to date with Nino's work here.
Visit their Instagram here.

This story is part of Next Gen, a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we navigate our future together.