VITAL SIGNS. MARKING BREATH. HAIFA. 2023.

Vital Signs: Pulse and Breathing Rhythm in Contemporary Art. Curator Dr. Kobi Ben-Meir.

Participating artists: Absalon, Sharon Azagi, Christian Boltanski, Louise Bourgeois, Miriam Cabessa, Lilach Chitayat, Sophie Dupont, Regina José Galindo, Gideon Gechtman, Douglas Gordon, Inbal Hoffman, Dikla Moskovich, Avi Sabah, Alma Shneor, Dor Zlekha Levy.

Our lives depend on the flow of air and blood. Every movement and sensation are activated by an internal rhythm of air that is drawn into the lungs and then exhaled, and of blood that flows from the heart and ultimately back. The body operates like a well-designed machine, whose complex systems are hidden from view under the skin. The exhibition presents works in which the hidden rhythm of breathing and the pulse is given a visual and vocal expression; works that penetrate the depths of the body and expose the invisible. The internal mechanism that sets the body in motion opens onto the surface, and the boundaries between interior and exterior blur.

The pulse and breathing rates are among the vital signs by which physicians determine whether a person is healthy, sick, or dead. The vital signs are directly affected by one’s emotional state: they change in moments of calm or excitement, fear or infatuation. The exhibition features some of the real products of these vital signs in works of art from the past twenty years. Lines, lights, and sounds are generated as the work of art is adapted to the heartbeats and the cycle of inhalation-exhalation, which determine the structure of the work. This rhythm—whether calm and regular, fast and fidgety, or completely still—may guide one into the depths of consciousness. Alternatively, it can make us conscious of those who are bleeding or those who have been deprived of air to breathe.

The exhibition was made possible through the generous support of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies; Prof. Khaled Karkabi, Haifa; Danish Arts Foundation
In collaboration with Bnei Zion Medical Center, Haifa

MARKING BREATH 7.2.2023 sunrise 6:31-sunset 17:17

Fotos by Daria Shapira, Shahar Doron, Jeni Katzner

Haifa Museum

The Mind Marking Breath

7.2.2023 sunrise 6:31-sunset 17:17

Sunrise

Haifa storms

Breathing

Inhalation

Exhalation

Vital signs

Life

Behind me Louise Bourgeois

Hysteria

First time in Israel

Extremes are meeting

Sharing

Sharing love

Sharing fights

Sharing hate

Sharing compromises

Sharing connections

Sharing limitations

Sharing expansions

Life

I breathe

Watchineg the sun rise

Sky changes

Lots of sounds from the other artworks

Sound of breathing rythmes

Its cold

Rain begins

Storm begins

Lightening begins

Time of storms

Saturdays demonstrations

Time disappear in life

Inside air

We breathe

We move

We stand still

We pray

We don’t pray

We believe

We believe not

We breathe

We fall

Fall in love

Fall out

Inhalation

Exhalation

Breathe life

Being human beings

I disappear

In breath

In life

Copper

I write

Air

Installing the exhibition

Waiting

Journalists arrives

Impressions

Expression

I breathe

Valuation of creation

Creating evaluations

Moments of inhalation

Moments of exhalation

I feel

I think

Changing inside

Again

Again

Again

Storm

I hear rain

I see rain

Imagine rain on my skin

The sun is setting

Colours of mixing

Colours of mixing

Mixing colours in new shades

Sunset sunrise

Colours mixing

We live in sunrises

We breathe in sunsets

We live in forever changing

Colours

Colours of skin

Colours of soil

Colours of language

Colours of air

Air

The sun has set