A new public art installation in Brooklyn calls attention to the issue of social injustice and mindfulness in an unconventional and compelling way. Dubbed Breathing Pavilion, the temporary art installation is designed by Brooklyn-based artist Ekene Ijeoma who wanted to create a safe public space that can offer people a brief respite amidst the current period of hardship and loss.
The art installation is made of illuminated inflatable pillars that invite pedestrians to breathe along with its pulsating lights. The pavilion features a 30-foot circle of 20 nine-foot-tall inflatable pillars held up by concrete bases.
The two-tone columns are reflective silver on the outside and the inside is translucent white fitted with LED lights. The pillars slowly modulate in brightness to illustrate a deep breathing technique intended to bring calm. For the light, Ijeoma chose an orange glow to echo “the color of the sun,” and used his own breathing to determine the tempo at which the lights pulsate. People are invited to breathe along with the changing light.
“Breathing Pavilion offers sanctuary at a time of intense hardship and loss, suggests a paradigm shift towards communion and meditative stillness, and creates an accessible space of reprieve when the act of breathing itself is under siege,” Ijeoma explained to Dezeen.
“The concept is something that I just thought of for this project. But I’ve been developing some other ideas around creating spaces and also public spaces for relieving stress.”
The artwork is installed in Brooklyn’s Cultural District, on a corner where many protestors gathered to march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer.
Image source: Van Alen Institute
