For whom the bell tolls: the world of Breathing Space
Space cadets: the Breathing Space collective. Photograph: © E5 Process Collective
Breathing Space are a group of artists embracing the meaning of the term ‘collective’ in its truest form.
Speak to them and you are immediately made aware that their work is not participatory in an obvious or remotely cheesy sense, but that the audience’s participation and involvement in their pieces is an intricate thread that they weave through from the moment they have an idea for a project. This delicate and intelligent approach inevitably gives the final result all the more impact and fully embraces a spirit of real inclusivity.
Speaking to the Hackney Citizen about their latest work TIME: A Sonic Vigil – a sound installation on 29 April in St Augustine’s Tower where the group were given a residency – they explained why they wanted to share their experiences in the building, the oldest in Hackney, with anyone who ventures in.
Stephen Shiell of Breathing Space said: “We just want to enjoy being there and share that and share what it’s given to us. We never even actually dreamt of doing a performance. We just went there [the tower] to find something within ourselves, to be together, to make music.
“There was no obligation to do it [a performance] at all. We just thought, after having such great times there and inviting people to do sonic meditations and brilliant workshops, well why not actually? This is exactly what we do. Let’s just show it and share it and see where that takes us.”
Happy accident
Discussing their previous projects, it becomes clear that their work and the way it is developed is always an organic evolution of an idea based on a specific site, and they tend to naturally veer away from anything too forced or over constructed.
Even the way in which they came together was, to an extent, a happy accident. They met through a project initiated by a project initiated by Shiell called LUGUS, who were seeking performers for an installation in Cody Dock, Canning Town. Having built a geodesic dome to float on the less than enticing waters of the River Lea, Shiell wanted to put together a choir to sing in the dome to make the most of the natural reverb created by the surrounding walls. Sourcing the choir members was what brought the group together for the first time.
Lou Barnell remembers the experience well: “I have really fond memories of getting in a really decrepit dinghy on water that you would never want to fall into. Even though it was only shin deep. We were all in white as well, with faces that had been dipped in glitter so we had these masks on while we were rowing. It’s was a strange experience, sort of felt like rowing across the River Styx to get to this floating dome.”
Motifs
Speaking to Shiell and Barnell they tell me that their work always seems to come back to the same motifs, namely stairs and the sea – or at least large bodies of water such as the River Lea. While this is true, looking back through their past shows reveals other central themes of their work. In one way or another each project prompts an internal line of questioning into not only the way we live our lives, but also the way we perceive them.
There is a spiritual element to some of their previous work, with varying levels of involvement and observation asked of the audience. From the contemplative and meditative implications of TIME: A Sonic Vigil to the exploration of forgotten folklore and myth explored in their first piece LUGUS.
There is something unusually open and accessible about their work. The world of contemporary art is not commonly associated with being a warm and welcoming place. This is what sets Breathing Space apart and makes their work so utterly absorbing. It is more than refreshing to find artists who truly wish to invoke thought in their audience without dictating the line that thought should follow.
Sonic vigil
Visiting their most recent show at St Augustine’s Tower in Hackney, it was apparent they had not broken away from their usual themes. If anything it seemed to consolidate their work thus far and invite audiences to become immersed in their ethos as much as the installation itself.
© E5 Process Collective
Shiell said of their intentions for the work: “We like the idea of people switching off their phones. We want them to feel how we felt in this space, kind of timeless, and to reflect upon where we are. Then, through listening to the words that have come from and been inspired by St Augustine and other people that have spoken about time in a very profound way, just be inspired to stop everything for a little bit.”
The choice of environment for the show was perfect. From the outside, St Augustine’s is a beautiful example of 13th century architecture that has been forgotten through the passing of time and the subsequent development of the surrounding area – it’s largely obscured from view from the street by a Coral betting office.
Inside, however, the majesty and beauty of the building combined with the exquisite, gently mournful score created by Breathing Space has the effect of transporting you immediately away from life outside. Being in the tower during the show, it was easy to forget the hectic world just the other side of the stone walls, and to in a sense submit to your own thoughts, something which feels entirely unnatural in the structured, technology dominated society we inhabit in our day to day lives.
The photographic collaboration with the brilliant E5 Process Collective served to further distort the audience’s view of time or era, and contributed to the feeling of being suspended in a momentary sense of freedom from our limiting, rigid ideas of time and our place in it.