ARCHIVE OF BREATH // NORDNES
Co-creational Artwork by Frantzsen&Mjanger
As part of the 2023 the Tema Exhibition "Time will tell, she already does" and 'Dear Neighbour', at Hordaland Art Centre, Frantzsen&Mjanger invite you to an engaging, performative practice that is a physical encounter with materials and people.
Archive of Breath took place at Hordaland Art Centre (HKS) and in the Nordnes neighbourhood during autumn 2023. The project invited local participants into a performative, co-creative process where breath – invisible yet shared – became visible through glass, text, and movement.
Over three weeks, participants met for three gatherings, beginning in a mobile outdoor glass workshop where each person created a glass form – an "Expression of Breath" – with artists Maria Almås Frantzsen and Ruth Hol Mjanger. The forms were later photographed in the participants' hands and accompanied by short texts reflecting on breath, presence, and community.
The process concluded with a silent "Walking with Breath" through Nordnes, ending with a shared meal and conversation in Curated Kitchen at HKS.
Everyone is breathing
We all share the air
around us
inside us
How can this invisible community become visible?
With Expression of Breath in our hands,
how do we experience ourselves, our surroundings, and each other?
An archive of breath is created over a two-to-three-week period, where a group of audience members, through three physical meetings and time for personal reflection, collaborates with artists Maria Almås Frantzsen and Ruth Hol Mjanger. The project unfolds in several parts, with the first part taking place in an outdoor mobile glass workshop set up outside HKS in Nordnes. On Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September, registered participants, in collaboration with the artists, will blow their own glass form called "Expressions of Breath" These unique glass sculptures will become part of the archive.
On Monday 18th September, everyone returns to collect their glass forms, and a portrait is taken of the glass form held in the hands from which the breath originates. The co-creators take the glass forms home for exploration and text creation in the following week. On Wednesday 27th September, the group gathers for a collective silent "Walking with Breath" in Nordnes, where all the glass forms are put to use. The evening concludes with a shared meal and conversations around the table in the "Curated Kitchen" at HKS. The texts are finalized by each co-creator and the artists after the last gathering. The outcome will be displayed at HKS for the remaining duration of "Time will tell, she already does".
Background:
Since 2017, breath has been the focal point of Frantzsen&Mjanger's work, creating and interacting with glass objects they call "Expressions of Breath" These unique sculptures capture the dialogue between the human exhale into molten glass and the glass's response to that breath. The glass's rapid transition from liquid and hot to cold and solid preserves the moment. The duo's work is process-oriented and involves the audience as co-creators of the artworks
