Marking Breath, AGALAUS, Voss, Norway. 29 May 2015.

From 04:23am-10.42pm on friday 29 May the artist will mark into a silver panel each breath she takes, drawing our attention to the simple yet fundamental action of breathing. Requiring an extraordinary degree of restraint and endurance, Dupont sits silently during the entire performance in order to enter a deep state of meditative drawing.

Dupont examines the contradictions and connections between body and psyche. Marking Breath can be seen as a rebellious act towards our increasingly frenetic and stimulated urban society.

Venue: AGALAUS. Curator: Therese Maria Gram. Photos by Therese Maria Gram. Film editing Christine Løkkebø.

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Skærmbillede 2020-01-24 kl. 20.12.20
Skærmbillede 2020-01-24 kl. 20.42.33
Skærmbillede 2020-01-24 kl. 20.47.19
Skærmbillede 2020-01-24 kl. 20.44.23
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2015.05.29 The Mind Marking Breath at Voss Folkemuseum. Sunrise 4.23 am – sunset 10.42 pm.

Silver plated Sterling silver panel. Format; Heart to head and Ear to Ear ( 50 X 20 cm)

Its wedensday early evening and I’m flying into Bergen. It’s misty and constantly raining. In two days I’m scheduled to perform Marking Breath outside in a small town North of Bergen named Voss and this is where I’m heading from the airport bus to the train that will take me to Voss.

The train ride is amazing and just by looking out on the mountains dressed in white snow I start to feel in touch with nature. The mountains stand like Giants full of power and calmness. Small lakes and waterfalls. There is nothing sweet about this. It’s rough real nature and I absolutely love it. It’s dangerous and full of melancholy.

/ I’m nervous

/ 18 hours, half of the time outside

/ the time is 4.15 am, I’m outside the Volksmuseum in Voss. I’m wearing a huge thermo suit that is supposed to keep me warm.

/ ready

/ I start my marking – first breath after the sunrise. The air is fresh

/ in between breaths I look at the mountains

/ It’s misty

/ the top of the mountains is surrounded by clouds

/ my mind is calm but fresh by the air; constant flow of air

/ small birds, they are awake and sing

/ in few places I see the blue sky

/ it starts to rain

/ It’s fine I’m inside the protecting suit -almost like a tent.

/ the view is breathtaking

/ I have to really concentrate to mark instead of just look at the mountains reflecting in the sea

/ the light is ever changing

/ from far away there is fog, it’s coming closer

/ I get surrounded by fog like the sky is hiding me from the rest of the world

/ Therese is keeping me company

/ Walking around also looking like a Michelin man in ski outfit

/ I hear her outbursts of it all being so incredibly amazing

/ I smile I breathe I mark, so simple

/ more sounds

/ I see the School bus in the distance

/ the sheeps are waking up I hear their bells

/ more rain

/ the panel is covered in rain drops

/ the gloves are wet

/ I think of Yayoi Kusama

/ the grass is so green

/ my fingers are ice cold

/ I take off the cloves

/ I mark, the silver is soft

/ the iron pult Rasmus made is perfect

/ the rain is coloring the iron reddish

/ I’m cold. I start breathing slow

/ I have to concentrate to keep warm

/ my toes too are freezing

/ the Sun shines through the clouds

/ I shower in sun

/ the Sun

/ the Moon

/ amazing strange World

/ infinite vast space my mind cannot percept this fact

/ Irritated by this limited mind of mine I speed up my breathing

/ I’m super cold now

/ I hear a car behind me

/ people talking

/ the museum opens I’m safe I Can go into the warm space

I go inside, remove my outfit and get settled on a long bench on first floor next to a huge panorama window.

/ I start marking

/ the place reminds me of something from a James Bond movie

/ I imagine a setting with Sean Connery parashooting down, he lands on the snow and start skiing the rest of the way till he land on the water where the skis transform into a water scooter.

/ I mark – it’s 9 o’clock I only know this because this is when the museum opens up.

/ 4,5 hours

/ the silverplated panel is like a mirror

/ strange to look at one self from this angle

/ People are entering the museum

/ a girl talks she’s having a performance

/ questions and answers

/ never stopping in this world; ask-answer-ask-answer

/ do we ever get wiser I question myself….

/ I have no answer but attempt to say no

/ we kind of make the same mistakes again and again and after new ones

/ I mark

/ people mark with me

/ breathing

/ the Sun shines through the window

/ almost burning

/ I feel the skin on my face

/ I breathe slowly

/ the mountains have a calming effect

/ people are watching me marking

/ I love when they mark with me

/ they whisper

/ Therese is telling about the work

/ I let go

/ don’t know of what – just letting go

/ that’s the most difficult task in life

/ letting go of time

/ space

/ the more we breathe the more space we get

/ finally my toes get warm

/ a whole School class enters the space

/ they are so quiet

/ I’m tired and my eye lids feels like lead

/ I just mark, that is all I do

/ breathing and Marking

/ foreverness is entering the stage

/ I fly away

/ still Marking

/ body in Voss, mind in Haiti

/ the museum is closing

/ outside looks cold

/ I go

/ leave a space in the Marking indicating the pause

/ I place the table on a big rock

In this way I can stand

/ wearing the tent outfit I’m warm

/ warm for now

/ the air is fresh like crispy green leaves

/ I love being outside

/ the light has changed

/ I mark

/ in between I do jumps

/ runners are passing by

/ it’s a hard road – up and down mountains

/ the time is 5 pm – again I know this is when the museum is closing

/ like a black cloud my mind get depressed and angry

/ 5.42 hours left

/ giving up is not an option

/ my mind is upset, hating this work right now

/ It’s ok I tell my self

/ what is 5.42 hours of a whole life?

/ I mark

/ the rain starts

/ the sheep are mehe, Im wearing my big white fur hat, maybe they think I’m one of them…

/ cars are coming, I hear people talking

/ they are here to look

/ one is joining marking

/ my mind gets settled

/ It’s like the breathing gets easier when we do it together

/ we look at the mountains in between breaths

/ I look at the birds free flying

/ breathing in and out

/ my body feels heavy

/ why do I not have wings?

/ my mind is again upset

/ It’s cold now

/ between marking I do angels’s jump

/ people are around, a boy takes a box from underneath the rock where my table is standing

/ the sheep stand looking at me

/ Therese is talking, telling the newcomers about my work

/ the rain starts

/ I’m tired

/ tired and upset not to have wings

/ it’s getting darker, still many clouds

/ I tap into foreverness

/ the forever breathing that will at one point come to an end

/ the alarm rings, the Sun has set another day passed

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