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Breath Work

by Rebecca Aston

Every day I am committing myself to streaming some breath work; breathing and writing while observing my own breath. Entering a feedback loop with myself, plugging in. Explore the archives of recordings or catch me live online.

During the sessions, I will be wearing a breathing sensor that I have created myself to stream my breath online. The breathing sensor is knitted out of yarn and conductive thread. I’m running a few volts of electricity through the sensor and as my chest expands and contracts the resistance changes, capturing the act of breathing and also movement. I am streaming my key strokes as I write. Inviting others to be present with me, to be anonymous voyeurs that enter into my thoughts.

These live streamed sessions, examining an embodied process of digital making, will serve as starting points for further writing and visual exploration.

This work is made as a part of In-grid, a collaborative residency between arebyte gallery and Goldsmiths, funded by Arts Council England.

I am somewhere. Typing text. Each key entering into the record. Scrambling. Breath. As I am breathing. IN hold and OUt. I am breathing. Breathing is not the forcing of air into lungs. But the creation of a vacuum by ribcage and diaphragm. Air sucked into the vacuum. Expansion and contraction. Of bone and of sinew. Stretch and compress. Stretch. Sense. I am Running electricity through the conductive thread. Thorugh the sensor. And the resistance to the electricuty changes as Stretch and Compress of bone and sinew. Each pause measured off tick tock off the clock. Each empty cell marking 5 seconds of time. I am running out of time. Breath Disembodied breath. We are still bodied. Virtual breath tethered to bodies plugged in. We are political bodies not left at virtual doors. We are still bodied still bodied still breath still breathing...

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