Porous, Airy,Bodies

In respiring bodies air is life, intimately connecting the gaseous exchanges in the outside realm to the oxygen in our blood and being. This enmeshment with the atmosphere internalises its composition, of gases, pollen and skin cells while also distributing human-made toxins of pollution, chemicals and fine particulates throughout its porous inhabitants. Particulate air pollution is now the largest environmental hazard to human health worldwide, disproportionately killing working class and black communities.

This series Porous, Airy Bodies traces polluted particles through breath; the moment the human body transmutes with respiring vegetal life, its environment and the toxic. Particulate matter (PM2.5) pigment extracted from the polluted East sides of London where Hack took her first breaths mix with urban tree dyes to sense invisible atmospheres.

PM2.5: Particulate Matter, measured at 2.5µg/m3 and often made up of soot in air pollution. This is the smallest of airborne particles measured in air quality indexes so it can be absorbed by bodies and cause the most harm.

Acknowledgements: Yi Chung for the woodwork support, Delphine Tomes for our dye pots, James Hack for helping me extract pollution and your ongoing support for me and my work, and the Art & Ecology 2024/5 cohort for your nurturing space and love.