When Moon and Earth collide... how "cyborg artist" turns tremors into art

The Catalan artist Moon Ribas feels the earth move—literally. Ribas describes herself as a “cyborg artist” who has developed “a seismic sense” via an online seismic sensor implanted in her arm that allows her to perceive earthquakes through vibrations in real time. Ribas experiences tremors throughout her body when the tectonic plates collide; she even felt the 7.3-magnitude earthquake last month that tore apart towns on the border between Iran and Iraq. “Ribas transposes the earthquakes into either sound, in her piece Seismic Percussion; or dance, in Waiting For Earthquakes,” her spokeswoman says. Last month, the artist gave a talk and performance at the Mak Wien museum as part of Vienna Art Week when the Earth became the “composer of the piece”.