The Octopus Trap

(part I: Verify you are human)

A performative sound and video installation about the human heart and the data generated by ECG devices.

The Octopus Trap takes its name and inspiration from a heart dysfunction called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as “the broken heart syndrome”. It entails the enlargement of the heart muscle during stressful emotional conditions. The name comes from Japanese. Takotsubo is a vase used to catch octopuses. The shape of a “broken heart” resembles that of the vase.

Two distinct elements make up the performance: one digital, the sound installation, and one analog, the live performer.

The digital element has as starting point a recording of the artist’s voice reading medical data generated by an ECG. The recording is afterwards processed and sampled by an algorithm modeled by the same data that is being read. In addition to the processed reading, several elements from the data are used to modulate sine waves. The modeled sounds are then sent to six speakers. Each speaker deals with the sampling of a different element from the ECG data. The speakers are placed around a curtain of bubble wrap that surrounds the performer.

The encapsulated performer reads for three hours the numbers generated by its own heart.

The two elements, human and machine, create a contrast between human time and machine time, between the seemingly effortless processing of information by the machine and the subtle modulations heard in the live human voice, brought about by effort.

By playing simultaneously the video above and the recording below you can get a better feeling of the unfolding of the performance.