Synching Up Heartbeats on the Playa

Tune into BMIR 94.5 on Thursday at 10pm to participate
Tune into BMIR 94.5 on Thursday at 10pm to participate

On Thursday, August 29th at 10pm YOU will have the opportunity to participate in the world’s largest synchronized heartbeat, which will take place in our dusty Black Rock City home. BMIR Radio (94.5FM) will broadcast a bass-laden heartbeat and art cars and camps across the playa will tune in for five minutes. By listening, your heartbeat will tune to the beat on the radio, and, by extension, the population of Black Rock City.

The goal of this experiment and playa dream of Playa Heartbeat project organizers Sonia Aggarwal and Jordan MacHardy is to get every single heart on the playa beating in sync. And, there’s a science behind it. “When a human heart is surrounded by rhythmic low frequencies of the right meter, it aligns with the beat,” says Aggarwal. Aggarwal says that the initial inspiration for the project came to the duo when they were walking around the playa in 2012 and imagining Black Rock City as a giant organism, which made them wonder what that organism’s heartbeat might sound like.

With YOUR on playa participation, they can find out as the result of BRC tuning in will be the biggest synchronized heartbeat on earth. The timing of the Playa Heartbeat is fittingly timed with the end of the Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE) Burn, the world’s largest synchronized burn. On Thursday evening at 9pm, 24 effigies built by Regional communities from around the world will burn together in a large circle around the Man. Towards the end of the CORE burn, art cars and theme camps will send out millions of watts of sonic power playing a simple, steady, bass-laden heartbeat across the playa. “This project,” says Aggarwal, “is not a single central event, but an experiment in engaging everyone, connecting the whole playa for five minutes.”

Let’s do it, Black Rock City. Let’s make this heart-full playa dream a reality.
For more information on the Playa Heartbeat Project, email playaheartbeat@gmail.com and visit www.playaheartbeat.com and www.facebook.com/playaheartbeat.

See you in the dust!

About the author: Megs Rutigliano

Megs Rutigliano

Meghan "Megs" Rutigliano is Burning Man's Associate Director of the Regional Network. She oversees Burning Man's annual Global Leadership Conference and European Leadership Summit. Meghan explores the art, events and culture of various regional Burning Man communities in her blog posts.

2 Comments on “Synching Up Heartbeats on the Playa

  • karen lee says:

    WOW…………..my heart is beating in joyous anticipation of the conscious moments of Interbeing. Thanks for doing this.

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  • I hope Playa Heartbeat will attract the extraterrestrials attention and trigger “First Contact” – at least well publicized First Contact. How will we know there are aliens among us? Will they show up in a giant spaceship or simply infiltrate the City’s population to observe us? Can we have a sign-up board for voluntary abductions?

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