Lantern Room
(2016) Dimensions variable. Neon sign, hardware, transformer, microcontroller, sensors, beating heart.
I sleep next to a window at the top of my house. Through it I can see cars driving on I-95 approaching Philadelphia from the north, and boats on the Delaware river from the same direction. My block, historically illuminated by the now abandoned coal power plant, is darker than it used to be.
I constructed a large neon sign of an anatomical human heart and mounted it in the window next to my bed. When I sleep, I wear a sensor that allows the sign to blink in time with my heartbeat. Friends in the neighborhood and those traveling to the city can observe the flashing beacon from a distance and send me their observations and diagnoses.