An unexpected sight to behold in a churchyard, ‘Our Beating Heart’ brings the mirror ball principle to a grand scale. As the sculpture slowly rotates, urban spaces come alive. Dapples of light dance and shift, transforming buildings and streets, making each surrounding surface appear to blend into the other.

The heart will reflect light in swirling and changing patterns. With the use of high-powered lighting, this effect can be seen from some distance. The heart will also appear to constantly shimmer due to the extent of mirror tiles on its surface. The ‘mirror ball’ effect is particularly spectacular outdoors, where reflections seem to dance on naturally uneven surfaces as the light passes over them.

Our Beating Heart attempts to show how the many facets of a single human existence have wider reach than we may think. Thousands of mirror fragments on the heart’s surface reflect tiny dapples of light far into the distance, entwining with the surrounding environment, moving and changing as the heart rotates. It is easy to become more insular and feel disconnected from others in a time of increasing global uncertainty and anxiety. But what we are, and what we do, can affect everything around us.

Artist Bio:

Studio Vertigo is an art and design collective based in the UK, lead by artists Lucy McDonnell and Stephen Newby to create light installations and sculpture for international exhibition. Vertigo have created work for numerous exhibitions around the world, including Durham Lumiere, Amsterdam Light Festival, Taiwan Lantern Festival and Vivid Sydney.