Respiratory Encounters
mixed media installation
(glass, metal, Arduino, sensors, web interface)
Respiratory Encounters makes the invisible relationship between breath and aquatic plants perceptible. At its center stands a sculptural glass body in which the water, as habitat for photosynthetic beings is raised above surface. Sensors measure CO₂, oxygen, pH, and temperature in real time shown on a digital interface.
It not only makes the metabolisms readable, but offers breathing exercises to attune to a rhythm the body cannot fully read. In the context of an exhibition on plant knowledge, Respiratory Encounters shifts the focus: away from the plant as substance, away from healing as effect. What heals here is not an extract but an atmosphere, a network of processes that continues whether we perceive it or not.
Exhibition in the Botanical Garden Zürich, June to October 2026.
Credits
Webinterface: Pascal Meyer
Curators: Martina Huber, We Are AIA; Manuela Dahinden and
Caroline Weckerle, Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich
Commissioned by: We Are AIA and Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich
Special thanks to the glassblowing workshop of University of Zurich,
as well as to Alexander Damm and Peter Szövényi,
and to the research project Interfacing the Ocean, Zurich University of the Arts.
Supported by: The Ernst Göhner Stiftung.