Sync Your Heartbeat to a New Interactive Sculpture in Chestnut Hill

Photo by Mike Diskin

Maybe you’ve heard your own heartbeat before, but odds are you’ve never seen it—at least not on this scale. “Heart of the City,” a new interactive sculpture created by Brazilian artist Anaisa Franco, shows you your heartbeat, and it was installed on Wednesday at the Street in Chestnut Hill.

The sculpture is a three-seat chair molded after the shape of a human heart. It syncs with the rhythm of visitors heartbeats by using a finger pulse sensor near one of the chairs. After picking up a visitor’s heartbeat, the piece will light up in vibrant neon lights, corresponding to the rhythm of their pulse.

Weighing in at 400 pounds and measuring 8 feet by 6 feet by 3.4 feet, “Heart of the City” is just a tad bit bigger than our own tickers. The sculpture comes to Boston after debuting in Sydney, Australia, and it’s the first time it has been installed in North America. 

“We fell in love with Anaisa Franco’s vision for ‘Heart of the City’: to enlarge the heartbeat of its viewers by connecting visitors and creating an expansion of their own hearts,” said Allison Yee, general manager of the Street, in a press release.

The sculpture will be at the Street from now until April 25. Can’t make it over there? No worries, the piece will move to various locations throughout the summer, including MarketStreet Lynnfield in May, Derby Street Shoppes in June, Legacy Place in July, and the Boston Seaport in August.

If you happen to take a seat, visitors are encouraged to post photos to social media with the tag #heartbeatBOS. The Street hopes visitors will caption their photos with the answer to the question, “What makes your heart beat?”