2022-23 — Duration: [to be defined] GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) device, skin-conductance sensor, real-time visual signal Performer: Gaetano Mosca. With Luigi Piliego (psychologist, expert in computer languages) First presented at: [to be defined]
TOTE stands for Test, Operate, Test, Exit. The performer Gaetano Mosca is connected to a GSR device that measures skin conductance in real time. Mosca performs a monologue made up of ten sentences. Each sentence is accompanied by a director’s note indicating the physiological state of the fictional character at that moment — a precise level of bodily arousal. The device checks in real time whether the performer’s skin conductance matches the one prescribed for the character. If the level does not match, the discrepancy is visible. Luigi Piliego collaborated on building the system. The title takes up the cybernetic TOTE model: the current state is tested, one acts to modify it, it is tested again, one proceeds. The performer applies this scheme to his own body: he checks the physiological datum, tries to modify it, checks it again and moves on to the next sentence. The scale is inverted: the body registers something the subject does not know it is producing.
Retroactive regime. Here the string is the galvanic skin response. The GSR measures the conductance of the skin; the performer must make his physiological state coincide with the prescribed one. The circuit closes between bodily datum, verification and correction. The scale is inverted: the body knows something the subject does not.
Photo: Cristina Crippa Produced by artQ13.