Heartless: Pulse of the City Interactive Art Installations Damaged, Stolen

Photo via George Zisiadis

Have a little heart, Boston.

In less than a week after the new “Pulse of the City” art installations—heart-shaped structures that play tunes to the beat of peoples’ pulses when they place their hands on them—were set up in five locations around Boston, one was destroyed and another was stolen.

But the artist who brought the innovate project to the area isn’t upset, and said he is working on replacing the damaged and lost hearts, and reinforcing the other installations so they don’t go the way of their counterparts. “We have already started remedying the situation,” said San Francisco-based artist George Zisiadis. “We created the pieces to give joy to the city of Boston, and the public, and that’s the response we have been seeing. Boston has always been one to get back on its feet, and we want to be part of that process.”

The hearts are set up at Christopher Columbus Park in East Boston at Maverick Square, at the Dorchester Ashmont Station in the Longwood area, andin front of the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center  in Roxbury.

Outfitted with copper plated handles, when people grab ahold of the device, it senses their pulse and creates a one-minute musical performance.

Zisiadis, a Harvard grad, said the damaged hearts were just a “hiccup,” and the city is working diligently to get them up and running again. “What we are doing over the next week is we are taking all of the units and doing structural welding along the base of the connection, and after that they should be really good to go,” said Zisiadis. “It’s just simply the reality that anytime you are trying to create a complex piece of art to withstand the public and environment things are going to happen.”

Zisiadis said it was unclear as of now how much it will cost to fix them. Each heart is hand made by a team of artists, he said.

He expects that they will be installed and reinforced in the next two weeks. “The mayor’s office has been incredibly supportive [of the project]. Everyone just really wants to make this work,” said Zisiadis.