What happens when we all stop breathing? Will there be anything to step in and give life? As a lifeguard, I was trained to perform CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and rescue breathing. This consists of two mouth-to-mouth breaths and thirty chest compressions. I do this until 911 Emergency comes or the person starts breathing again. However, what happens if no health care worker comes? How long will I need to continue to perform CPR? Until I am so exhausted I cannot go on? Until I have given up hope? Until someone tells me to stop? It is an impossible choice that many healthcare professionals face. I hope that I will never have to make this decision. I hope that through my breath, another will be able to breathe.
Learning to Breathe is a single channel video installation reflecting on these questions. From birth to death, my breath intertwines with others. The air I breathe is also the air we breathe. Breathing in an exchange, internal and external, between my breath to yours.