Air

In pillow for the dead 1998, Japanese artist Rei Naito presents a tiny pocket of air gently held within a permeable layer of silk organza — suggesting that the air we breathe now is part of a continuing lineage with all those who have shared it in the past. The artist created 304 such pillows for Being Called 1997: one for each soul depicted in a fresco painted for the Galerie im Karmeliterkloster in Frankfurt, Germany, telling the story of the Carmelite order and the terrible persecution of many of its members. Most often we breathe without trace — the air we expel with each exhalation invisibly joins the larger atmosphere. In Australia, some of our most sacred and ancient galleries trace breath, body and community stretching back through generations, over tens of thousands of years. d Harding works with family to continue the traditions of the Bidjara, Ghungalu and Garingbal peoples, preparing ochre, taking it into the mouth, and exhaling to direct a spray of pigment onto a rock wall or a sheet of paper, leaving a symbolic silhouette- impression evocative of the hand and tool prints remaining in sacred caves. Rei Naito / pillow for the dead 1998 Our evolution as interdependent beings connects us not only to trees, plants and the broader biosphere but also to each other — we draw comfort, energy and inspiration from those dear to us. British artist Oliver Beer explores this intimacy in Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) I & II 2018. In this video and sound installation, couples share precious songs, sung simultaneously. Their mouths form a seal, and hands gently modulate the connected cavities of their partner’s ear, cheek and jaw, so their bodies become an instrument. They share body and breath, breathing in through the nose in time with the interwoven songs. The vulnerability of each breath is heightened by the limitation of breathing through their mouths, as well as our sense of wonder at what can be created in each living moment and lovingly shared through time — as a mother sings to her child — or between loved ones. d Harding with Hayley Matthew / Know them in correct judgement – Gami (detail) 2020 31 30 Do we all breathe the same air? Do we all breathe the same air?