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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artist:
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title:Breathing Space
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date created:1997
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materials:Two-channel colour video installation, with sound, 19 min., 45 sec.
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1998
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accession number:GMA 4195
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gallery:
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subject:
Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart
Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart
Stephanie Smith was born in Manchester and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Edward Stewart was born in Belfast and studied at Glasgow School of Art. They met in 1991 while studying in Amsterdam and have worked in collaboration since 1992. Their work consists of video projections...