Air We Share Collective

Exploring the Art of Breathing Out (and hoping it means something)

Sometimes, the best ideas come from the strangest fascinations. Ours involved plastic bags and human respiration.

So, here I am. In the middle of this picture. Go ahead, take a good look. How did I end up in the middle of this situation, dragging my friends down the same rabbit hole?

It all started at a workshop with Baltan Laboratories. On a beautiful sunny day, no less. Unfortunately, a peculiar fascination took hold: physically visualizing exhaled air, or "physicalization" as we dubbed it. The initial vision was a corner of an exhibition space slowly succumbing to the accumulating volume of our collective out-breath.

After several brainstorming sessions, the first tangible (or as tangible as air in a plastic bag can be) result was an experimental installation, unveiled as a work-in-process demo in 2012, at Labor, Budapest. Invited guests, a brave and perhaps slightly bewildered bunch, were not only asked for their impressions and ideas but also for a rather intimate contribution: their very breath. One can only imagine the polite coughing and nervous giggling.

This initial foray into the world of respiratory art eventually led the collective to create Airslaves an installation that, by 2017, was deemed thought-provoking enough to be showcased at Transmediale in Berlin. Proof, perhaps, that even the air we expel can have a surprisingly long journey.