The pandemic is remaking our relations with one another, and this is also true of the Translating Vitalities collective. We were meant to gather in Berlin for several days of working together in the summer of 2020. Instead, we gathered virtually, each in our separate spaces, in June 2020 to extend our ongoing conversation about ecologies and forms of attention. We focused on the theme of breath and breathing, especially as we all struggled with the multiple forms of crisis and transformation unfolding this summer.
This video, compiled/edited by Alexa Wright during our Zoom meeting, is derived from a 20-minute group exercise to animate and interpret an ancient Chinese silk scroll depicting postures of breathing. The scroll, from Mawangdui in Hunan, 2nd century BCE, was shared by Angelika Messner. In this exercise, each participant assumed a randomly-assigned pose from the scroll, and within the exhalation of one deep breath, was asked to describe the pose. This playful experiment is informed by our earlier Translating Vitalities experiments. You can find the video by clicking on the still, below.
Translating Vitalities 