I BREATHE YOU_DO YOU BREATHE ME_
Kunsthal Charlottenborg 24.th. June 2022. The performance take place in the foyer at the top floor from 11.00 – am to 6.00 pm. Part of ART IN A DAY.
Sophie Dupont’s performance; I BREATHE YOU, DO YOU BREATHE ME? examines respiration, presence and the spirit of the place.
The breath is always situated and site specific and thus sensitive and changeable, it follows the inner moods of the body. Respiration constantly connects the inner and outer world in resonance with specific surroundings. Breathing takes place in the present and is a bridge between the past and the future connecting people with space and place.
Dupont’s performance is a bodily phenomenological study of being as situated and site specific co-creative and relational practice. The dynamics of the breath, and thus the relationship between; co-performers, fellow human beings present and the physical setting itself constitutes the starting point for Dupont’s minimal and holistic performance.
The performance takes place at the top of Charlottenborg’s foyer, and this space forms the chest of the building body. The co- creating pulsating breathing by fellow human beings present will be enhanced and transmissioned through loudspeakers outside Charlottenborg. Thus, the entire building’s breathing becomes a sensuous and situated site-specific physical presence.
Dupont accordingly becomes the conductor and instrument for the breath together with those present, and the work proceeds as a rhythmic, collective dance with the breath as anchor. By including both material and ephemeral elements her performance create consciousness of the connectedness of everything. The performance examines how attention and connection to the breath is crucial to embodied being, and how the breath can be cultivated. Dupont’s performance thus draws attention to the breath as a physical presence that voices the spirit of the place.
Quote by Sophie Dupont: “My art concerns research into breathing. I create space to focus on the vital potential of the action of breathing through my long term performances. It enables a sense of freedom because breathing can override thoughts and feelings and determine embodied presence. That is, a clarity on how the body is connected to other bodies and not least to the world as situated and site specific space and place.”
Co-performers Ina Raunio & Kustaa Tuohimaa
Photos Jonathan Damslund