hyperVENT, 2021

hyperVENT is an experimental video that contemplates the intimate link between breath and environmental wellness, particularly forest health. The video is encapsulated in the audio of my own breath in both restful and panicked states, with an audio visualization of that same breath strangling the frame of the video.

Hyperventilation is the act of expelling breath faster than taking it in. The process of hyperventilation happens in both asthma and panic attacks, for which I have experienced both. Asthma attacks induce panic, so even when the health crisis event is ongoing, it is hard to disentangle the two. Asthma, and my reflections on the symptoms and causes as they relate to climate change, and more specifically, deforestation, emerges more prominently as a sensation of panic.

Panic as a sensorial response to climate change is the overarching premise of this piece. Panic as a feedback loop, in particular, is a theme I have hoped to emulate through this video artwork. When I say feedback loop, what I mean is that the current crisis around climate change induces a sensation of panic, especially for our youth. That climate change, in turn, renders conditions in which easy breathing becomes a commodity, both practically and mentally. The further degradation of the climate, especially in terms of deforestation and increasing carbon output, makes breathing especially difficult for vulnerable communities. And so the cycle goes on and on. Strangulation leads to panic, leads to asphyxiation, leads to panic, and on and on and on until there is intervention.

Towards the later half of this time-based work, there is a tonal shift guiding us toward a familiar past, but the relief of exhalation brings forward a new reality. A crashing of waves signifies new beginnings. The water in the ocean has been carried vast distances, through space that is unimaginable, only to be crested at the earth’s shore. The transition is messy, and at times turbulent, but the washing of foamed salty sea onto sandy beaches brings a sense of climax and peace.

The foggy lens through which we have been viewing this video work begins to open up. The constrained view of the audio visualization is reminiscent of losing consciousness, and the blurring creeping in of impending blackout from hypoxia. Or, from a different perspective, the pulsating rhythm of the breathing visualization might evoke the contracting of one’s trachea when gasping for air. Whichever lens with which the viewer perceives this video, the constraint of tightened panic is alleviated, but not eliminated. There is hope for a future of peace and harmony, but the results of which are yet to be seen.

This video is part of a collection of artworks produced for my Master’s Thesis, and was presented at Leon Gallery in Denver. It has also been featured in the 2021 Supernova Digital Animation Festival, nominated as a semi-finalist in the Prague Underground Film Festival, exhibited at BRDG Project’s True West show in January 2022, and featured in Denver Digerati’s January curation of the digital art screens in Downtown Denver.