Beacon of Love Secrets

“In a culture where sharing feelings is often considered as oversharing, through this beacon, we can overshare feelings in a discreet public way.”

Beacon of Love Secrets, by public artist Eva Salmerón, will be the first public artwork presented by GAPBASE, an initiative of the nonprofit public being.

An historic 19th-century streetlamp with a flashing red light will transmit love secrets via Morse code. Through a website, people will be able to send their messages that will be translated into light signals that the streetlamp will blink in a lively and uneven way, as if breathing.

Hundreds of secrets will be transmitted from the Beacon every day. Using AI, entries will be scanned for true “love” content. A small screen will be subtly integrated into the lamppost base to decode the flickering light into words. Senders will be able to choose the broadcast date and time of their secret to invite their loved one to receive it in person at the Beacon, turning the site into a date spot. There will also be the option to send a digital invitation, anonymously or not. The website itself will live-stream the Beacon so that all secrets can be viewed and read in their original language from anywhere in the world.

The Beacon will be housed in a replica of the original lamppost, which fell down during a storm more than a decade ago. The piece advocates for the preservation of the city’s historical heritage through a process of contemporary public art.