The two pairs of hands shown on parallel monitors, one playing piano, the other typing at the computer keyboard, take turns wearing a TENS device [Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation] which, as controlled by certain notes played or letters typed, respectively, delivers an electrical current into the muscles, causing the involuntary flexing of fingers, shoulders, wrists.

The text is from an article published in the New York Times on September 12, 2018, entitled ›Detention of Migrant Children Has Skyrocketed to Highest Levels Ever‹. The song is a piano arrangement of Barbie Girl by Aqua.

 

TENS Concept: Guido Henneböhl
Relay Instrument: Georg Werner
Video: Bani Abidi
Piano: Sarkis Ricci

 

Jeremy Woodruff (US) is a lecturer at the Istanbul Center for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) and a musician. His compositions and sound installations are influenced by his extensive research in the fields of musicology and ethnology.