Totem
Hosted by: Beer van Geer & Julie de Ruijter (Studio Poca)
A new tribe has emerged that is marked by 16 Totems created from heart rhythm data of 16 people. Artists Julie de Ruijter and Beer van Geer welcome you to visit and become part of this symbolic clan. By recording your heart rhythm on the spot you engage in a ritual and intuitively create your own Totem.
The artists make themselves and their system available for you to record your heart rhythm on the spot, inviting you to draw a Totem from your own intuition. The Totem will become part of the tribe and you can also take it home with you.
Totem is an artistic research project in which artists Julie de Ruijter (Studio Poca) and Beer van Geer create a tribe of symbolic, supernatural objects (Totems) using heart rhythm data from 16 different people.
For this project, the artists have connected the tangible digital application that emerged from science with the intangible world of intuition. The heart rhythm is specifically linked to one’s inner strength, and closely associated with natural cycles and transformation. Our heart rhythm is as unique as a fingerprint and is constantly changing, just like the rhythm of our environment.
Julie and Beer have used the heart rhythm as a basis to investigate which archetypal shapes are hiding in our inner world and how to make this uniqueness tangible. In the process exploring the value of symbolic, magical objects to form a connection with ourselves and our kin.