Collective Breath
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
School project, Bachelor program 2016
I studied one semester of my Bachelor’s degree at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Actualizing Air with Chris Cottrell was one of the three courses I studied there. Our assignment was to investigate how interior design processes can enable us to become more aware of the air around us. To capture and visualize air. When we breathe, the air we exhale contains more carbon dioxide than the air we inhale. My project uses this fact to create awareness of how human activity affects our environment. Collective Breath is a pavilion proposed to be a part of The Arts Biennial Lab 2017. The festival, which was planned for the year after my exchange, investigated the future and what changes we will have to make in relation to our environment.
During the one week program at the Australian Center for Contemporary Art, artists collaborated and shared their ideas with the public. The exhibition was shown inside the gallery as well as outside on the ACCA forecourt and this is a proposal for a structure placed outside the museum. The pavilion would be open during the day housing artist talks and workshops, and collect breath and show projections during the afternoon and evenings. Glowing visuals through three layers of material. As a metaphor, the visitors will alter the space by doing something they do naturally 12 - 16 times per minute, breathe.
Six carbon dioxide sensors are placed at different levels in the space (1-6). They send the data wirelessly to a computer every few seconds. A specialised app then transforms the data into visuals. Each sensor is connected to its own projector (A-F), creating a varying environment since the amount of carbon dioxide in the space would vary.
