"I want to perceive movement in a deeper way," said Ribas, a 30-year-old choreographer, according to Quartz. "The planet moves, constantly shaking and moving every day. I thought it would be amazing to translate the massive and natural movements of the planet in a different way."
To achieve her goal, Ribas took what many would consider to be an extreme measure.
"I modified my body, to modify my mind," she said.
The abstract dancer had a small magnet implanted on the inside of her elbow. Wirelessly connected with an iPhone app that takes seismic recordings from accelerometers and seismometers stationed all over the world, Ribas, who has lived predominantly in geologically quiet regions of the planet, now feels recorded earthquakes in real time.
"I think it’s unfair that our perception of earthquakes are all bad. Earthquakes are part of the evolution of our planet. The bad thing is that humans haven’t adapted to this natural phenomenon," she said.
"We still need to learn to live in our own planet."
The sensor is always on, and constantly emits vibrations consistent with quakes that constantly occur across the globe. Stronger earthquakes, however, result in a stronger vibration.
Ribas uses her unique "superpower" to perform a dance she calls “Waiting for Earthquakes.” This involves her standing on stage before an audience and responding to the vibrations as they happen.
"My artwork is happening inside my body. I’m the only one who perceives it. So in order to share my experience, I create external artwork related to my new sense," she said.
It’s a fascinating take on the barrier between human and machine but Ribas is not the first "cyborg artist." Born colorblind, artist Neil Harbisson, with whom Ribas created the Cyborg Foundation, has a sensor attached to his head allowing him to hear color. He uses this ability to, among other things, transcribe famous speeches and music into color-coded paintings.
The sensor allows him to be aware of visual wavelengths beyond the range of human sight.
"For us, the important thing is to change our perception and to treat our brain as a sculpture. If you modify your perception in the long-term, you also modify your brain and your mind," Ribas said.
"Now I feel like I have two heartbeats."
In the future she may have more than just two. The artist may soon add additional seismic sensors into her feet. In the long-term, she would like to be able to tune different sensors to different parts of the world, so she can identify where earthquakes occur.
"Maybe I’ll use each toe to define each continent," she said, "but that’s still in process."
