Vitto Valentinov

The installation MITOSIS was part of the 2013 edition of “Otets Paisiy Street Festival" in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 144 people participated in the creation of MITOSIS .

In this project Vitto Valentinov measures 20 beats of the pulse wave in the radial artery of the right arm of each participant. Parallel to this, a "Diagnosing apparatus" (a microwave oven) builds a "portrait" of the participant on a special "plaque" (a lasagna sheet). Each "portrait" is unique according to the relevant heart rate – each pulse has its individual characteristics. Each "plaque" resembles cells enlarged through a microscope, which are separated from one another. Any new personal image becomes a building block of a picture illustrating a living system.

Inspired by the theme of the festival - "Behavior" - Vitto searches for analogy between the pulse in human arteries, caused by contractions of the heart, and the pounding rhythm of people and events on Otets Paisiy street during the festival. Furthermore, the division of cells in our body, their constant reproduction, their life and death are like a reflection of the events that emerge, transform and fade over with time in the pulsing arteries of the city – the streets.