A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

As one of the most sustainable cities in the U.S., it’s not hard to fall in love with Austin. In fact, the love is so strong that 1,500 people move there weekly. In Austin: Texas’ Most Sustainable Oasis, our new EcoSalon writer, Shira Levine tackles all the reasons why people do consider it an oasis and what her own trek was like while there recently.

Since 1995, Japanese artist SASAKI has been creating portraits from human heartbeats, which he does by spraying a steady stream of paint to the sound of beating hearts. HeARTbeat columnist Dominique Pacheco writes in HeARTbeat: Sasaki connects with heartbeat Portraits, “What can one expect from a live Heartbeat event? During a recent 6-day workshop, Sasaki gave us a taste by creating ‘Heartbeat Portraits’ of 139 participants. A pulse monitor was attached to the finger of each individual and the measured signal was output as audio in real time through a set of speakers – the sound and rhythm echoing and reverberating throughout the space.” The result is a multi-sensory experience unique to all involved.

In Part 3 of The Post-Recession Fashion Industry: A Return To Nature, we again look at how the fashion industry is emerging from its cocoon post-recession, a changed sector where consumers are more cautious, manufacturers are on their toes and designers are struggling to stay afloat doing business as usual. In this five-part series, we take a hard look at the fashion world, speaking with industry leaders, luminaries and experts. This week we asked: Now more than ever, is eco-fashion inextricably linked to conscious connections with land and place?

This week marked the summer solstice, and if there’s any place that knows how to celebrate this time of year, it’s Sweden. Foodie Underground columnist Anna Brones writes: “Its northern latitude makes the winters dark and long and the summers light and short, which means there’s plenty of reason to celebrate the official start to the summer season which kicks off at midsommar.”

In Foodie Underground: Celebrating Midsommar, we learn all about this Swedish food fest and even learn a few recipes.

EcoSalon Senior Editor Kathie Butler writes, “If you are an American woman who decides to get married, you will likely change your name. In fact, three million American women do so every year, roughly encompassing the 90 percent of women entering matrimonial bliss. This leaves the 10 percent of women who decided to keep their birth surnames, or the men who decide to change their own, navigating an interesting cultural landscape.” In 7 Reasons Married Women Keep Their last Names, Butler makes us reflect on the history of how this whole tradition even started.

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This week’s HeARTbeat pulses to a familiar beat.

Since 1995, Japanese artist SASAKI has been creating portraits from human heartbeats, which he does by spraying a steady stream of paint to the sound of beating hearts. The effect is that SASAKI transmits the unifying pulse of human existence to canvas; the subjects themselves sign the work.

On view at the 54th International Venice Biennale through November 27th, 2011, SASAKI is in demand right now. Dwell on Design has asked him to create a live performance of his Heartbeat Drawing Project, slated for this coming weekend if you happen to be in Los Angeles, to raise money for Architecture for Humanity‘s relief and rebuilding efforts for victims of the Japanese tsunami. It’s not his first time working with the non-profit; this past April, SASAKI helped raise over $3,500 for Japan.

What can one expect from a live Heartbeat event? During a recent 6-day workshop, Sasaki gave us a taste by creating “Heartbeat Portraits” of 139 participants. A pulse monitor was attached to the finger of each individual and the measured signal was output as audio in real time through a set of speakers – the sound and rhythm echoing and reverberating throughout the space.

In tandem with the rhythm, Sasaki drew the image of the heartbeat waves for a period of three minutes. It was a multi-sensory experience for the participants who got to listen to the sound of their own beating hearts while watching it get transformed into art.

Afterwards, they signed their own “Heartbeat Drawings” leaving an indelible fingerprint on what goes to the heart of our collective humanity.

Of his process the artist says: “People are being connected with one another through the heartbeats…This is a way that people from all over the world can purely feel their ‘living’. This is… to feel ‘heartbeat’.

Perhaps what words struggle to depict, this video can convey. After all, how does one describe the sound of heartbeats?

First, one must slow down and listen.

Eco, trends, art, creativity and how they tumble through social media to shape culture fascinate EcoSalon columnist Dominique Pacheco. Her personal blog, mixingreality, speaks to these topics daily, and here at EcoSalon, she takes a weekly look at the intersection of eco and art. We call it heARTbeat.

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