No. 131

BREATHING ALPHABET

By : Dobrawa

Entrant’s location : Poland

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Description

Although we all continousely breathe - an extensive breathing record system does not appear in our modern culture. We find punctuation signs and pauses in the musical notation, but they only give hints where to take a breath and how long it takes, and not how to do it. Breath is treated as a break, a negative space/void, absence of sound - while it is an extremely powerful medium for sharing experience, making the conscious recipient a co-creator; both in artistic, social and environmental terms. Since 2015, I’ve been creating the Breathing Alphabet - a respiratory graphic signs system. Based on several years of analysis of traditional techniques from different cultural circles; transmitted orally among others, Tibetan Yantra Yoga and Tsa Lung, holotropic breath, Hindu Pranayam, Siberian Buteyko methods, Anapanasati meditation, breathing connections with the speech apparatus, etc., I’ve conceived a breathing notation that can be used for a personal breathing practice as well as a method of artistic expression. Breathing alphabet is a pictorial language, reflecting different variants of breath and experiences connected with it. In the context of current changes in culture, in which reading and writing gives way to more sensorial picture-sound communication, the Breathing alphabet creates both a new artistic method and a medium for deepening the awareness of one’s own body and mind. Individual characters are an attempt to systematically present the different variants of human breath. From the letters of the alphabet, one can create compositions on the model of music scores, which accordingly initiated breathers can exercise alone or in groups. The Breathing scores intend to create a transformational, therapeutic experience, enacting lasting changes on both- the individual and the collective atmospheric body.

What did you create?

Dozens of distinguishing signs of various components of breathing are the basis of the system of signs, which I call the Breathing Alphabet. Individual characters are an attempt to systematically present the different variants of human breath. From the letters of the alphabet, one can create compositions on the model of music scores, which accordingly initiated breathers can exercise alone or in groups. The ensemble is included and described in a primer. The Breathing scores intend to create a transformational, therapeutic experience, enacting lasting changes on both- the individual and the collective atmospheric body.

Why did you make it?

Although we all continousely breathe - an extensive breathing record system does not appear in our modern culture. We find punctuation signs and pauses in the musical notation, but they only give hints where to take a breath and how long it takes, and not how to do it. Breath is treated as a break, a negative space/void, absence of sound - while it is an extremely powerful medium for sharing experience, making the conscious recipient a co-creator; both in artistic, social and environmental terms. Therefore I've decided to fill the void and to create a language for recording breath; a respiratory graphic signs system. Breathing alphabet is a pictorial language, reflecting different variants of breath and experiences connected with it. In the context of current changes in culture, in which reading and writing gives way to more sensorial picture-sound communication, the Breathing alphabet creates both a new artistic method and a medium for deepening the awareness of one’s own body and mind. Using the breath as a an art gesture, and air as its medium refers to the tradition conceptual-minimalism and is an extreme departure from the cult of object. An attempt to build a new language took place many times over the history of art and philosophy. Somehow the breathing alphabet seems devoid of intellectual content, and therefore has the opportunity to be independent of the cultural context and its variation over time. It refers to the most primitive reflexes.

How did you make it?

Since 2015, I’ve been creating the Breathing Alphabet - a respiratory graphic signs system. Based on several years of analysis of traditional techniques from different cultural circles, transmitted orally, among others, Tibetan Yantra Yoga and Tsa Lung, holotropic breath, Hindu Pranayam, Siberian Buteyko methods, Anapanasati meditation, breathing connections with the speech apparatus, etc., I’ve conceived a breathing notation that can be used for a personal breathing practice as well as a method of artistic expression. It's an ongoing process.

Your entry’s specification

The alphabet has been created as vector signs. It has only appeared virtually so far, so the material specifications are flexible.

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