Until I Die uses blood-filled batteries to generate an electrical current.

Russian artist Dmitry Morozov aka ::vtol:: has shared a video of his latest musical creation, a sound installation powered entirely by his own blood.

Until I Die, which was shown at the Kapelica gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last December, uses blood-filled “batteries” that power a small algorithmic synth module, which plays a sound through a small speaker.

It took 18 months for Morozov to collect all 4.5 liters (almost eight pints) of the blood necessary to power the installation, which went through a preservation process and was diluted to seven liters. When brought into contact with the aluminum and copper in the battery, the electrolytes in the blood generate a small electrical current.

Morozov’s “techno-biological hybrid device” is an effort by the artist to “become” the installation. “This device is something that is in all but name me, which uses my vitality to create electronic sounds,” he says in the video. “Moreover, I become the observer, looking at my own performance by device that exists as a result of my efforts, and is located outside my body. Thus, although for only a short period of time, I can achieve my own creative existence.”

Until I Die is the latest in a series of unusual synth installations created by Morozov. Last year, he built a giant laser-powered drum machine based on Léon Theremin’s Rhythmicon, and in 2015 he spliced a synthesizer with a telephone. [via EB]

Read next: Moog are the music makers: Inside the small town factory that builds the world’s best-loved synths

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