Art and breathing. Limits, encounters and borders

Abstract

Contemporary artistic practices, unlike those of other times, do not forget the reflection on air, respiration and breath. From the purest physiological need to the highest forms of spiritual expression, these concepts open us to contemporary issues of great importance, such as immateriality, deterritorialization, fluidity, volatility or transparency, to give a few examples. This article is based on the realization that air and breathing constitute a privileged space to reflect on the human condition, a space that reveals with the same intensity both territories of exclusion, delimitation and hierarchization, as well as scenarios of encounter and symbiosis, of interrelationality. and collusion between the human and the non-human, that is, spaces and atmospheres in which we find articulated all the vital wealth that lives with us. Through the analysis of various contemporary artistic works, we will be able to see how art has been concerned in recent times with showing these relationships and making us simultaneously aware of the dangers and benefits that omitting or evoking their aerial condition entails for human beings.