Søren Dahlgaard//The Breathing Room

At first glance The Breathing Room appears to be an ordinary white room.

As you enter the space – your expectations about the familiar white cube exhibition space is challenged. The walls are made from soft pvc canvas. Assisted by air, which continuously is pushed and sucked into the space behind each wall – the canvas slowly curves into a convex shape and after that a concave shape. This repetitive movement mimics human breathing. The breathing sound from the ventilator is present. It explores the performative aspects and possibilities in architecture.

The art historic context is the famous text – Inside the white cube – first published by ArtForum in 1976 by artist and writer Brian O’Doherty.

The Breathing Room was first exhibited at the Singapore Biennale in 2008. After this presentation in Copenhagen, the installation will go to Los Angeles at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery.

Also exhibited during The Breathing Room show are related works by Søren Dahlgaard, for instance The Breathing Painting, which relate to the painting and how we perceive the painting. Paintings typically have a motif – abstract or figurative. It works with colors, patterns or space.

Søren Dahlgaard takes a step back into the process and asks: What is a painting? Can a painting be something different from what we are used to? Can it behave in a certain way?
Here the painting has come to life as the painting breathes. The canvas moves slowly out – convex – and in – concave. It is a performative painting, which challenges the rules for the perception of what a painting can be.

Another work is the photo series The Perspective of Breathing, which follows the air path through the flex hose from the ventilator to the white wall.

So this show presents you with a Søren Dahlgaard without the dough, the bread or dripping paint!

Rohde Contemporary