Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart

Breathing Space

About this artwork

'Breathing Space' comprises two wall-sized video projections, shown at right-angles to each other. The viewer can hear the amplified sound of the constricted breathing of the two figures, as the plastic bags over their heads are sucked in and expelled, rustling noisily. The figures are separated yet united in their struggle. The bizarre scene carries associations of torture, violence and sadomasochism, but it is also visually arresting and full of black humour. Watching the motionless heads in a dark, claustrophobic space, it seems like some sort of game or punishment. Deliberately fraught with contradictions, this seemingly vicious work is about breath - the stuff of life.

Updated before 2020

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Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart

Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart