[ISEA2015] Paper: Clarissa Ribeiro & Huanqi Zhu – Owner of a Lonely Heart: (Danio rerio) Embryonic Heartbeats

Abstract (Short paper)

Keywords: Art and Science, Data Sonification, Problem of Measurement in Quantum Mechanics, Observer-observation relations in Quantum Mechanics, Heart Beating Patterns of Zebrafish Embryo.

The work presented here was developed in collaboration between the media artist Clarissa Ribeiro and the scientist Huanqi Zhu, by the time they worked together as researchers at James Gimzewki lab, UCLA. The 8 (eight) screenshots and the derived (sonified) environmental sound that integrate the piece “Owner of a Lonely Heart”(2014), were traces of an observation – a scientist measuring the heartbeat of a zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo’s lonely heart. After recording the data, using a microelectrode precisely prepared for the experiment, the scientist generated a series of graphs using the software OriginPro 8.1 and started zooming in different regions, looking for specific points where the patterns fit his expectations according to the main purposes of the research. Despite the procedures were initially part of a bigger project involving several labs and researchers, the actual collaboration was developed as a parallel experiment were the scientist joined the artist in a poetic reflection about the scientific procedures that became part of the artwork itself. Integrating the artist solo show at the Art|Sci Gallery, UCLA (June/July 2014), the work invites the audience to reflect critically about the importance of observation in the creation of ‘truth’ in science, what plays a crucial role in the creation of ‘reality’, having radical influence in the ways we behave, in our survival strategies, in who we are.

  • Dr. Clarissa Ribeiro, UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Los Angeles, California, USA.  Architect, Media Artist, and Researcher, teaching experimental design strategies in Architecture for first and final year students in Brazil, where I’m the director of the CrossLab research group and the LIP – Lab for Innovation and Prototyping at the University of Fortaleza. As an independent artist, I’ve been producing and exhibiting experimental interactive installations exploring affectiveness and consciousness through metaphorical translations of micro, molecular and subatomic scale phenomena, working in collaboration with other artists, research groups and art collectives in my home country and abroad. My artistic practice is viscerally linked to my research interests that for the last 20 years have been focused in investigating and understanding the influences, connections and cross contaminations between the sciences of complexity – cybernetics, information theory, systems theory, quantum mechanics – and artistic expressions and poetics in media arts and sciences.   clarissaribeiro.com
  • Dr. Huanqi Zhu, UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Los Angeles, California, USA, is a researcher at Nano and Pico Characterization Research Lab, UCLA, specialized in quantitative analyses and predictions in physical systems. He has hands-on experience
    and working knowledge in physical sciences, with extensive experience in noise isolation and noise cancelation with comprehensive training and skills in data processing

Full text (PDF) p. 410-413