1. Introduction

Pulse of the City is an interdisciplinary art, science, and data initiative that transforms real-time biometric signals—heartbeat, breath, and movement—into immersive visual and sonic experiences. Rooted in Detroit, the project reclaims personal data from systems of extraction and redirects it toward empowerment, expression, and collective well-being.

This page introduces the first phase of the project, including new artist commissions, community events, media resources, and the partners helping bring the work to life.

2.A Reclaiming Our Data

As biometric and personal data are increasingly used for surveillance, advertising, and control, Pulse of the City imagines a different path: one where the body’s signals become tools for healing, reflection, connection, and storytelling.

By merging scientific measurement with creative translation, the project shows that creativity is an infrastructure for community resilience.

Creativity as Infrastructure

Art strengthens the systems that support everyday life.

DATA AS EMPOWERMENT

Reclaimed signals become a source of agency and self-understanding.

Community as co-creator

Detroit residents shape the meaning, impact, and process of the work.

Science as translation

Real-time data becomes light, sound, motion, and shared experience.

2.B Our Hypothesis

Creators gain power: When creators engage in their work, their body (heartbeat, breath, muscle activity) shows measurable signs of strength, focus, and flow. They also report feeling more empowered after creating.

Communities grow stronger: Communities that take part in these experiences feel more connected to one another and are more likely to volunteer, share resources, or participate in future projects.

Audiences change perspective: When audiences see creativity linked directly to the body through lights, sounds, or visuals, they are more likely to shift their perception — from thinking of creativity as “just entertainment” by witnessing heartbeat, breath, and movement transformed into creation, they see creativity as inseparable from life itself.

3. 2026 Artist Cohort

The 2026 Artist Cohort features Detroit-based creators working across disciplines to develop new site-specific works powered by real-time biometric data. Each project invites audiences into collaborative, participatory experiences that illuminate the relationship between body, emotion, and community.

SHAWESCAPE RENEGADE

HE/HIM

EAST SIDE

Shawescape Renegade, is a Detroit-born musician and dancer from the 7 Mile & Schoeneer area who was shaped by the city’s underground techno and JiT dance culture. He has been part of multiple community collectives and festivals, donating his art to people-powered events that uplift and unite Detroit’s creative scene. Growing up in Detroit’s Redzone, he views music and dance as vital tools that kept youth focused, expressive, and out of trouble while offering an escape through sound and movement.

BIOSIGNAL / BLACKOUT is a live, multidisciplinary performance that transforms real-time biometric data—heart rate, brain activity, breath, and movement—from musicians, Detroit Jit dancers, and visual artists into electro-based sound, image, and motion. Rooted in Detroit’s lived realities, the work exposes how uninsured bodies continue to generate data, labor, and culture while navigating systemic neglect, stress, and survival.

BIOSIGNAL/BLACKOUT

MANDISA SMITH

She/her

NORTH END

Mandisa Smith is a Detroit-based fiber artist and community arts educator whose practice centers on collective making as a tool for healing, connection, and transformation through felt-making and natural dye processes. As Artisan Studio Director at Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese and a creator of community-rooted installations, her work fosters accessible, participatory spaces that support emotional well-being and honor Detroit’s resilience. Through projects like Cocooned Together, she explores softness, natural materials, and collaboration as radical tools for care and refuge.

Cocooned Together is a multidisciplinary project that weaves fiber art, technology, and music into a sacred, immersive space for rest and collective care. Through community fiber workshops, participants’ heart-rate data will be translated into original compositions by Marion Hayden, culminating in a cocoon-like installation where visitors are invited to slow down, rest, listen, and find comfort.

COCOONED TOGETHER

4. Events

Pulse of the City events activate Detroit through installations, performances, workshops, and community gatherings. Each program blends art and technology, allowing participants to experience how their own biometric signals can shape sound, color, and movement.

Upcoming Events

COMING SOON

5. Team & Partners

TEAM

Ackeem Salmon

Artistic Direction & Community Engagement

Ackeem is a Detroit-based art director, harpist, and interdisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of sound, visual art, and identity. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, his work merges music, technology, and storytelling to create immersive experiences that bridge tradition and innovation.

Ackeem has exhibited internationally at venues including Sotheby’s New York, Val de Vie Estate in South Africa, and Galerie Joseph in Paris. As a performer, he has graced stages such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, Théâtre Douze in Paris, and the Faena Forum in Miami. He holds a BFA in Photography and Fine Art from the College for Creative Studies and has received the 2024 Ashley Longshore Excellence in the Arts Award, the 2024 Arc Fund Award from Culture Source, and the 2023 Gilda Snowden Award in Interdisciplinary Work from the Kresge Foundation, among others.

See here for website.

Email: ackeem@mirroredglass.org

NA Bonsai

Organizational Development & Strategic Planning

Na Bonsai is an interdisciplinary artist and musician with over a decade of experience in songwriting, live performance, and sound art, combining independent releases and experimental projects with formal roles in arts organizations, including curating performances, managing campaigns, and collaborating with cultural institutions. Blending electronic and analog instruments, Na creates immersive environments that invite deep listening and collective transformation. Their practice centers sound as a living, tactile force—one that shapes memory, perception, and emotional states. Drawing from psychoacoustics, and somatic research, Na uses sound as both medium and message for healing and liberation.

See here for website.

Email: ana@mirroredglass.org

Ariel Sol

Technological Development & Engineering

Ariel pioneers the future of sound as an LA-based composer, harpist, and interactive media engineer. Hailing from Chicago, he is passionate about bridging genres and disciplines to foster community. From intimate living room pop to virtual reality ambisonics- storytelling, identity, and empowerment intersect to form his technological approach to the soundscape of today.

Ari was the 3rd prize winner of the 2024 World Harp Competition, the 2023 recipient of the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States’ Allen Strange Award, and a 2022 Young Artist in Residence of American Public Media’s “Performance Today.” He earned BMs in Composition and Harp from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and is currently pursuing an MS in Game Design & Development at the Interactive Media and Games Division of University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

See here for website.

Email: ari@mirroredglass.org