Sleep/Wake Theatre Project

In an exciting collaboration between art and science Sleep/Wake blends dance, design, performance art, internet, AV and theatre to create a unique, live-art experience – the story of an awakening and the mechanics of the sleeping brain and body.

Sleep/Wake begins with a performer asleep on stage. Then the few minutes that it takes our bodies to go from sleeping to waking are expanded to explore physical, political and metaphoric awakenings.

Through the languages of dance, design and science a unique journey begins: into the unknown territory of sleep, where we spend one third of our lives.

This work was performed at the Wellington Fringe Festival in February 2008 and at the 2009 Auckland Festival of the Arts.

In July 2009, Professor Gander and Sam Trubridge attended an arts/science collaboration conference:  ‘Art and Science: Exploring the Limits of Human Perception’, in Benasque, Spain.  Outputs from this conference included:

• The premiere of ‘On My Side’ which used 40 days of actigraphy and images of Sam and Professor Gander’s beds to create an installation piece.
• The premiere of a performance piece ‘Sleepless’, which involved Sam sleeping in public at the conference venue, while his brain activity was recorded using standard polysomnography gear  and projected in real time onto a screen.
• A two-hour symposium where Sam and Professor Gander discussed their collaboration was given as the closing plenary event of the conference