Project Description:

Breathing Space is a video art piece featuring a garden of four blooming paper cut flowers. This artwork depicts a surreal virtual space and acknowledges the act of living within a COVID context from 2020 to 2021. The project was made in response to the challenge of remaining present physically while we lived our lives virtually. The title, Breathing Space, is about reflectance, the physical act of breathing, and about acknowledgement the confusion and anxiety of the past year. Overall Breathing Space is a project whose process and product are one of reflectance and melancholy acceptance.

Breathing Space addresses the challenge of remaining present in the physical world while we live in a virtual space. The final piece is wall garden of four blooming flowers that mirrors my own physical breathing. Each flower features a paper cut story displaying different events that I have experience, observed, or struggled with during the past year of COVID. The act of breathing in opens the flowers displaying an overwhelming number of papers cut scene. This saturation of images emphasizes the anxiety when dealing with these selected four events simultaneously. The action of concealing and revealing of stories not only alludes to the disconnected feeling of living in a virtual environment but also references the processing and consuming the various events with each breath. The paper cut narratives themselves are mixture of personal, political, and mundane events from the year 2020 to 2021. Breathing in engulfs the paper cuttings and consumes them, this mirrors the act of intaking information and processing it. Breathing out releases the imagery and demonstrates an enlightenment and sharing of knowledge.

All of Breathing Space’s content was performed and displayed in the physical realm. The process of making this project from only paper and creating an entirely paper environment was an act of rebellion against virtual living. The creation of Breathing Space was meant to be a real and tangible one that rooted me within a physical space. This is highlighted by the handmade aspect of every individual leave, petal, and costume. The irony of the piece is that although the piece was made to remind myself of my physical world and self, ultimately my paper environments and performances were captured and uploaded to a virtual world to be shared and communicated. Nevertheless, I believe these fits well into theme of a fight and balance for living both virtually and physically during each day of the past year.

Overall, this project has given me an outlet to process my virtual environment and the events around me. During remote living, consequences feel insignificant, and days feel detached from reality. This project has been a physical reminder for me to be present within my environment and to acknowledge the confusion and complexities surrounding events of 2020 to 2021.

Goal & Outcome:

The goal of this project explores the boundaries of the physical and the virtual and the intersection of technology and art. As a student who is a double major in art and physics, I want to demonstrate how technology has influenced my art style by combining electronics and mechanics with visual, performative storytelling. Furthermore, this project has given me an outlet to process my virtual environment and the events around me. During remote living, consequences feel insignificant and days feel detached from reality. This project is a physical reminder for me to be present within my environment and acknowledge the confusion and complexities surrounding recent events.

I will present Breathing Space at the Meeting of the Minds symposium on May 12^th 2021 through video documentation.

Budget:

Grant APPROVED! Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier (FRFAF) Microgrant ($500):

Any additional costs outside the FRFAF Microgrant will be either paid out of pocket or requested from the BXA Capstone Supplemental Grant (applications on a rolling basis.)

Document Link: Google Sheets Budget & Timeline

Timeline:

The timeline for this project can be found on the third tab of the document above. I plan to accomplish this project by the deadline of May 12th where it will be presented at the Meeting of the Minds Symposium.

I have created deadlines for various steps and process in one month time spans, in order to work on multiple components simultaneously and continuously push the project forward. This approach keeps in mind a holistic view of the project eliminating the risk of spending too much time on a single component.Furthermore, although the goal is to complete 30 flowers, the foundation of this installation will be split into 3 separate bases allowing me to alter the project size if needed. This will guarantee I complete the project, but the finished size will vary depending on the number of complications along the way.

Document Link: Google Sheets Budget & Timeline