Body Mapping the Metropolis #90

2023

Plastic recycling

The project transforms invisible bodily reactions into a tangible cartography of urban space. The object, made from recycled plastic, replicates the shape of the artist’s heartbeat recorded during a walk along the Okhta River — a moment when the urban environment triggered an especially intense physiological response. This plastic “pulse” becomes an alternative tool for city navigation, where routes are charted not by visual landmarks but through bodily sensations. While traditional maps document visible elements — buildings, roads, infrastructure — this object captures the hidden dialogue between the body and the urban environment.

Material plays a key role here: recycled plastic, typically associated with the impersonal waste of a metropolis, is transformed into an intimate imprint of a heartbeat, reminding us that even in an artificial environment, we remain biological beings.

The project invites us to rethink our perception of the city — not as passive observers but as active participants whose bodies continuously react to the surrounding context — noise, spatial density, atmospheric changes. The chosen segment of the route, where the heartbeat peaked, metaphorically marks a “place of power” — a point where the urban fabric resonates with one’s inner state.

The work engages with the tradition of body art, yet instead of a temporary performance, it creates a lasting material trace of this experience. The plastic form, preserving the memory of a heartbeat, becomes a bridge between the ephemerality of physiological response and the permanence of sculpture. “What trace does the city leave on our bodies?” — this question remains open, inviting the viewer to conduct their own experiment in “mapping” the urban environment through the lens of bodily sensations.