DATA SHEET
Title / Título:
Restlessness
Team members / Miembros del equipo:
Alfredo Miralles (ES) – dance / danza; Jaime Redondo (ES) – computer engineer, interactive electromyogram system / ingeniero informático, sistema interactivo de electromiograma; Joako de Sotavento (MX) – prototyping with wearable sensors / prototipado con sensores wearables; Pedro Fraguela (AR) – music, sensor sonification / música, sonificación de sensores; Sayaka Fujio (CL+JP) – music, brainwave sonification / música, sonificación de ondas cerebrales
Scientist / Científico:
Catalina Liñán Maho (ES) resident medical intern in neurophysiology / médico interno residente en neurofisiología
Virgen del Rocío Hospital, Seville (Andalusian Health Service, SNS) / Virgen del Rocío – Virgen Macarena, Sevilla (Servicio Andaluz de Salud, SNS)
Seed / Semilla:
“Dancing in the Night” / “Bailando en la Noche”
Technique / Técnica:
Installation, assembling and projection / Instalación, ensamble y proyección
Dimensions / Dimensiones:
200 x 200 x 300 cm
SEED
Restless Legs Syndrome is characterized by an unpleasant sensation in the lower limbs that creates an irresistible urge to move the legs, classifying it as a movement disorder. This uncomfortable sensation typically occurs, although not exclusively, during periods of inactivity and in the evening. To diagnose it, electromyograms are used during the night to study the movements of the legs and their muscular tension.
THE VISION OF THE CREATORS OF THE WORK
Restless legs syndrome is characterized by an unpleasant sensation in the lower extremities that creates an irresistible urge to move the legs. It especially affects moments of rest such as sleep. To diagnose it, electromyograms are used during the night to study the movements of the legs and their muscular tension. This performance tries to relate three of these concepts: restlessness, sleep and muscle tension.
The piece works transforming brainwave records into sound. The waves of the encephalograms taken during sleep can be understood as a continuous signal to transform into sound. With them it is possible to create a musical proposal for each phase of sleep.
On the other hand, we have generated an interactive system with MAX MSP by means of an electromyogram sensor that makes live measurements of the muscular tension of the dancer’s legs, so that the sonification of the legs tension is transformed in real time into music. The performance and the dancer’s body will, therefore, intervene in the sound that accounts for the phases of sleep. The concept of interactivity between body and sound refers to the interference in the rest experienced by people living with this syndrome. How this physical sensation constantly interferes with rest.
Finally, being aware that we do not suffer the terrible consequences that afflict people affected by this syndrome and we do not want to trivialize anyone’s suffering, we propose a broad understanding of the concept of restlessness. We live in a turbo-capitalist society that forces continuous production. It forces us to never stop. In our dreams we experience nightmares about work, anxiety problems that affect our rest. We live in a society that induces and rewards not resting. With a broad concept that can generate empathy in people who do not suffer from this syndrome, we believe we can offer a bridge of encounter, through art, to this neurological condition.
CURATOR'S VISION OF THE WORK
In this performance the boundary between involuntary motion and disrupted rest becomes a space of aesthetic inquiry. Rooted in the neurological reality of Restless Legs Syndrome, the performance transforms scientific data (brainwaves and muscle tension) into sound, allowing the audience to inhabit the disturbed rhythms of a sleepless body. Using real-time electromyogram sensors and EEG recordings, the dancer’s leg tension modulates a live sonic landscape representing sleep phases, embodying the friction between rest and movement.
The work invites reflection on the fragility of rest in a hyper-accelerated society. Restlessness is no longer only a clinical condition, it becomes a metaphor for the chronic overdrive imposed by capitalism. Additionally, aware of not aestheticizing suffering, the artists expand the notion of restlessness to resonate with the collective experience of burnout and sleep deprivation. By sonifying distress and inviting empathy, the piece opens a sensory dialogue between the neurological and the social, between the personal body and the shared condition of unrest.
Con la colaboración de la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología – Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades @fecyt_ciencia
