Breathing Piece

Breath, an everyday, automatic bodily process that sustains life is brought to the forefront and controlled through performance. Using box-breathing, a breathing technique meant to calm the nervous system, as a jumping-off point, my performance, Breathing Piece, will follow this controlled method of breathing for a long period of time, much longer than is intended for the technique. As a result of repeating this regimented form of breathing, my body becomes tense, dizzy, and overheat. This reverses the therapeutic intention of box-breathing, demonstrating how systems of control may have good intentions but can have negative consequences. In my performance, I am seen needing to take breaks to rest my body or drink water, disrupting the continuous line drawing. The original performance is done in my studio, a private place, and documented through video, therefore brought into public space. This correlates with illustrating my breathing through lines, an internal and bodily action being exhibited to the public.

In Draw Out

Breathing Piece

04:56:20