How We Breathe? Event

Opening: 31. May, 17:00–20:00
Performance: 4. June, 17:00–20:00

Nisrine Boukhari & Hui Ye

“The system’s ‘matter’ has changed ‘phase’, at least since Bergson. It’s more liquid than solid, more airlike than liquid, more informational than material. The global is fleeing towards the fragile, the weightless, the living, the breathing.” Michel Serres

It is necessary for every word, every movement, and staying alive; Air is the finest element shared between all species—we need almost the same amount of air every day to continue living. In the age of Breath and Breathlessness. Political Oppression, Pollution, Pandemic, Exploited Workers, Insecure Social Conditions, War and Hunger are pushing us back to re-think How we breathe? As a way to drive an aerial awareness of self-love and self-care in a choking world. In this project, the artists open a discussion about the exhibition space as a living organism bringing their research “How we breathe?” into live performative practice.

Both artists have a curious approach to the concept of Breathing. Nisrine Boukhari, who uses breathing awareness to investigate the effect of trauma on mental state, where started her drawing-based Pranayama breathing method in 2012 as a neural transfer mechanism to understand the state of Mind-Wandering that is caused by traumatic experience and developed it into respiratory art that studies lines and fragmented language between order and chaos. In parallel to Boukhari’s experience in respiratory art, artist Hui Ye is researching the field of sonic repercussion in a techno-political sphere of our breathing system by studying the voice, the vocal identity, and the complex behaviour behind the tones and Breath of one’s own words. Both artists, through their interest in art, language and sound, came together to share the breathing space at VBKÖ, as they activate the room through an exhibition essay that is changing daily as a performative act where the line between life, art and politic is blurred as it keeps breathing in out.

As a first collaboration, the artists establish a research air-itory that investigates the exhibition space as the breathable thinking body. During the exhibition, Boukhari will give a workshop about breathing awareness in a time of collective trauma. The artists re-think, re-examine, and re-experience Breathing from their own perspective in reflection on what is happening in the time of Breath and Breathlessness.