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Seismic Percussion performance & Earthbeat talk
- Thu 2419:00-20:30
Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall
Seismic percussion is a drum solo performance where the rhythm of the piece is dictated by the rhythm of the tectonic plates. It’s a piece that transposes the seismic activity that occurs in our planet into sound, into a musical composition that allows the audience to connect with the heartbeat of the planet, earthquakes. This piece can be performed in two ways. One is based on real time earthquakes so whenever there’s an earthquake as small as 1 in the Richter scale during the performance, Moon will play the drum according to the intensity of the earthquake taking place at that moment. So, if there are no earthquakes there will be no sound.
The piece can also be performed by playing the earthquakes that have already happened in a specific place. Moon creates a score based on all the earthquakes that have taken place on a specific area (Mexico, Alaska, Greece,…) for an specific period of time (50 or 100 years), all the data collected is then transformed into a composition that is played in 10min. The act is accompanied with a projection that keeps showing the years Moon is playing on the drums.
Seismic percussion is a performance where Earth becomes the composer of the piece.
Earthbeat talk goes into detail about the projects of Moon Ribas, her philosophy as a cyborg artist and the process that drove her to cofound the Cyborg Foundation. Ribas has a sensory extension on her arm that allows her to feel earthquakes through small vibrations, she applies this new sense to her artistic work. Her talk is about the union between our species and technology, the extension of the human senses through cybernetics, using the internet as a sense and cyborg art. The talk will also explore how becoming a cyborg will enhance our relationship with animals, nature and space.
Μοοn Ribas (ES)
Moon Ribas is a Catalan avant-garde artist and cyborg activist best known for developing the Seismic Sense, an online seismic sensor implanted in her feet that allows her to perceive earthquakes taking place anywhere in the planet through vibrations in real time. In order to share her experience, she then translates her seismic sense on stage. Ribas transposes the earthquakes into either sound, in her piece Seismic Percussion; or dance, in Waiting For Earthquakes. In these performances the Earth is the composer and the choreographer; and Ribas, the interpreter. Ribas’ seismic sense also allows her to feel moonquakes, the seismic activity on the Moon. Ribas believes that by extending our senses to perceive outside the planet, we can all become senstronauts. Adding this new sense allows her to be physically on Earth while her feet feel the Moon, so in a way, she is on Earth and space at the same time.
Since 2007 Moon has been experimenting with the union between technology and her body to explore the boundaries of perception and to experience movement in a deeper way. Some of her previous research includes transdental communication, 360º perception and the Speedborg. In 2010 she co-founded the Cyborg Foundation, an international organisation that aims to help people become cyborgs, defend cyborg rights and promote cyborg art. Ribas also co-founded the Transpecies Society in 2017, an association that gives voice to non-human identities, defends the freedom of self-design and offers the creation of new senses and new organs in community.