AN INVITATION TO BREATHE
The symbiotic relationship between human breathing and trees is a beautiful example of mutual dependence. Humans exhale carbon dioxide, a waste product of respiration, which trees absorb during photosynthesis. In turn, trees release oxygen, the very air humans need to breathe, as a byproduct of photosynthesis, creating a continuous cycle where each organism provides what the other needs to survive.
Created as a fragment of the wider this/OUR deep mapping project exploring Glenbower Wood through art, history, ecology and citizen science https://thisour.ie/ , artist Katie Nolan led a pair of workshops with 12 women to create a collaborative eco textile installation. Through eco-dying and tataki zomé 叩き染め eco print processes, using traditional dye plants foraged in the hedgerows at Glenbower Woods and kitchen waste, these transformed fabrics were then stitched together with nettle fibres and nettle ramie to create an eco- map of natural colour. Then installed in Glenbower Woods, the piece was presented as part of the May Sunday Festival over the May Bank Holiday 2025. A ‘white lab coat’ points to our contemporary ‘clinical’ lifestyles that contribute to a disconnection with nature stemming from factors like increased urbanization, reliance on industrial processes, and a focus on technology. This detachment can lead to a diminished appreciation for nature and its importance, potentially impacting both our well-being and the planet's health.
Breathing is normally automaic, so when it suddenly becomes a conscious act, it makes us acutely aware of our creaturely existence and our dependence on the life-sustaining atmosphere around us.
Attendees at the May Sunday Festival were invited to take a seat, wear the eco-headpiece made from foliage sourced in the woods, and just ………BREATHE.
They then recorded their senses using text, drawing and markmaking. These ‘maps’ of their experiences will be recontextualised to become part of the thisOUR project.
Selected Images courtesy of Cathal Noonan Photography and @chris_finnegan_photo
