Update Fall 2020:

I have been studying the sky, air pollution/climate science and continuing to learn Sketch-Up. My intention currently is to film in 6-8 locations for this installation; half in the northern hemisphere, half in the southern hemisphere. I am interested in filming from (ocean) oil rigs rather than in city environments at the present time.

 

CONSPIRE (working title), an immersive installation.

     Breathing is an individual and collective action; each individual breath is drawn from the same gaseous matter that envelops all of life on earth. We are all surrounded by the same sky. We breathe the same air. In this, we are (should be) without hierarchy.

     And yet, through air pollution and the discriminatory politics of breathing, some of us have more advantages and access to this basic action that is our lifeline. Air pollution is now one of the leading risk factors for mortality worldwide, contributing to 5 million deaths in 2017, and some research suggests, nearly 9 million deaths in 2019. Racial inequalities (law enforcement handling of both immigrants and citizens of color, as well as their basic (lack of) access to health care) also inhibits freedom to breathe. Economic disparity allow some humans to choose geographical locations that offer cleaner air; others are relegated to areas where they can support themselves. If there is a choice, it is geared towards survival, not towards clean air.

 

conspire (v.)  from Latin conspirare “to agree, unite, plot,” literally “to breathe together,” from assimilated form of com “with, together” (see con-) + spirare “to breathe” (see spirit (n.) Or perhaps the notion is “to blow together” musical instruments, i.e., “to sound in unison.”

PROJECT:

I am developing a sensory-rich immersive media environment entitled, “Sky/Breath.” This installation is space specific and utilizes surround video projection, surround sound, a (speaker-lined) sound corridor, and offers a supplementary opportunity for an artist-led performance experience with the public. “Sky/Breath” focuses on being present with the sky and with the breath, and consequently with one’s own body and with the natural environment. Here, we will conspire together.

 

 

SPATIAL DETAILS:

    You walk into a 3′ wide corridor. The walls are approximately 9′ tall. The dim corridor is lined with flat speaker monitors (3′ apart?). From these speakers you hear the sound of breath, breathing. Each monitor offering a slightly different quality or tempo. You might stand and linger in front of a speaker, or walk through the corridor – there is only one way to move through, and that is straight ahead (there is second door, curtained, for exiting the installation). You travel approximately 30′ through the corridor, (please note this set of dimensions is scalable) and notice that for the remaining stretch of corridor ahead, you are now walking under a projection of the sky. The corridor continues another 30′ or so, and the walls begin to open up to a wider mouth into the main (rounded) installation space. Still you are immersed, surrounded by the sound of breathing. The volume changes occasionally. Reaching the end of the sound corridor, you emerge into a domed, or otherwise rounded room that approximates a 360 degree panoramic experience of standing under the open sky.  There are no rough edges or squared angles here. People in the space are standing, sitting, moving around. Some lie flat on their backs staring up at at the passing clouds. The video sky occasionally passes in real time, sometimes in timelapse. Blue skies eventually darken to fog or an oncoming storm and clear up again. The space is filled with the sound of breath. Sometimes effervescent, sometimes quite present. Or is it the wind? Close to the floor along the perimeter of the room the gentle occasional voice of a heartbeat. It beats louder now here, softer there. Sometimes you are aware of only your own… (see also the video test clips at the bottom of this page)

 

RENDERING:

   Presently learning to work in the 3D modelling platform, Sketch-Up to illustrate the envisioned details of this project. This modelling allows me to work at scale, and enables  a spatial perspective to round-out my written description. Here are views from one Sketch-Up model in progress. I finally had success making rounded walls! Please note this installation is shown below as a free standing space. It can be (ie one of the ancillary buildings at LACMA) … And it can also be a modified room inside of a larger building. And again, the dimensions are scalable.

 

and continuing to refine my SketchUp skills to make small tweaks…

 

We still do not see here a view from within the space nor are the corridors correctly represented, in terms of color and the intended placement of speakers. Video sketch clips are below.

 

 

SKETCH VIDEO CLIPS

below are test clips recorded at different times of day, with different cloud and fog formations. testing timelapse and real time.

fog with breath and heartbeat

 

real time sky, no audio

 

timelapse, few clouds

 

timelapse, more clouds

timelapse, new sky, new weather, MOS