Our greenhouse planet spins through space, warmed by the Sun and surrounded by a vital mix of life-supporting gases – our precious atmosphere, the air we breathe. Other planets have their own atmospheres, each a different composition. Only gravity holds this gauzy cloak to Earth.
Part transparent and part reflective, the aerosolar spheres of Tomás Saraceno’s expansive installation Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms 2022 catch and refract the light. They remind us of the complex dynamics of air and model a new future of flight and freedom of movement, powered entirely by the energy of the Sun.
Air as we know it did not exist when the Earth formed. Volcanism shaped our primordial atmosphere in the Hadean era, with water, algae and other plant life emerging in the aeons following. Dora Budor takes us back to this early history in her trio of chambers Origins I–III 2019, offering a view over volcano-punctuated landscapes animated by occasionally erupting clouds of pigment. There is movement but no life. Beautiful and unsettling – this is not air you would want to breathe.
Dora Budor/ Croatia b.1984 / Origin I (A Stag Drinking); Origin II (Burning of the Houses); Origin III (Snow Storm) 2019 / Custom environmental chamber
(reactive electronic system, compressor, valves, 3D-printed elements, aluminium, acrylic, LED light, glass, wood, paint), organic and synthetic pigments, diatomaceous earth, FX dust, felt, ed. 3/3 / Three chambers: 152 x 160 x 86cm (each) / Purchased 2021. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / View full image
Tomás Saraceno / Aerocene 2 and Aerocene 1.2 2016 (installation view, ‘163,000 Light Years’, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey 2016) /Courtesy: Tomás Saraceno /Photograph: Studio Tomás Saraceno / View full image
Tomás Saraceno / Argentina b. 1973 / We do not all breathe the same air 2018–ongoing / Black carbon, soot, PM 2.5, filter paper / © Tomás Saraceno / Courtesy: The artist; Andersen's, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Pinksummer contemporary art, Genoa; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin / View full image
Every breath of air is precious, vital to life. Yet because it can feel infinite, we think of air very differently to a resource such as water.
Our greenhouse planet spins through space, warmed by the Sun and surrounded by a vital mix of life-supporting gases – our precious atmosphere, the air we breathe.
We are usually unaware of the air we breathe, but might sense it when standing near an air vent.
We share the air – with one another, plants, trees and algae. With each breath, we take in oxygen created by these companions. Air and life have evolved together on Earth.
Sometimes what we cannot see makes us anxious. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic we focused on sanitising our hands to remove unseen pathogens; later we studied the invisible spread of aerosols.
We live in times of great change, ambiguity and uncertainty, as if on the edge of a precipice.