As a starting point for our work on air pollution we were interested in scientific methods of microscopy that visualise particulate matter present in the air, yet invisible to the human eye. This method of imaging, used in air pollution studies, often functions as an index of toxicity, which can isolate the particles from their context, bodily contact, cause and effect. Recent events across the globe have led to an acute awareness of the politicised nature of breath and the right to breathe. In the first instance we wanted to create a work that would invite the viewer to consider what kind of world air pollution particles might create or contribute too. Breathe is an exercise in perception, an invitation to imagine the air as material and to situate one’s own position in relation to atmospheric thinking and being. This film was first shown at Delfina Foundation in 2019 and will be exhibited as part of the group show Meadow curated by Taru Elfving in Fiskars, Finland, June 2020.

Matterlurgy is a collaborative artistic-research practice by London based artists Helena Hunter and Mark Peter Wright. Their work critically explores the intersections of art and ecology through interdisciplinary collaboration with scientists, technologists and communities. Recent projects have addressed flooding, land degradation, air pollution, climate modelling and simulation.

Matterlurgy were UK Artist Associates as part of Delfina Foundation’s Art, Science and Technology programme, 2019. Their work has recently been featured in the journal Third Text and Remain, a publication by Jussi Parikka, Rebecca Schneider, Ioana B. Jucan, University of Minnesota Press, 2019.