Priscilla Stadler
Take a Nice, Slow Breath
I invited people in Jamaica to join me in an everyday act that unites us all: breathing. Breathing with someone else is a subtle invitation to slow down and to connect. It encourages people to pause as they live their (often stressful) lives. Passersby, shopkeepers, artists, visitors, youth volunteers and others took a breath with me. The noises of the busy mall disappeared when we breathed together. A friend pointed out to me that the word “conspire” literally means to breathe together, reminding me of the significance of personal connection as a place to start organizing from. It sounds easy, but is not. As Linda M. Montano writes in the collection Life as Material for Art and Vice Versa, “Sometimes we have to practice being the persona we need to be in order to function more beneficially…” Throughout the planning and implementation process of TaNSB (take a nice slow breath), I consciously reminded myself to slow down and take a deep breath. This awareness became part of the project. I am grateful for this reminder to breathe deeply, and to be able to offer others the opportunity to slow down and breathe together. Talismans will remind people to take a nice, slow breath in the future. Perhaps they’ll invite others to do so with them.
About the artist
I am an artist who works with installation and human interactions. For a few years I’ve been making Fragile City, a series of dyed cheesecloth buildings investigating vulnerability as individuals and as communities. The New York City Council, via the Queens Council on the Arts, has funded my projects through grants. I show my work in various New York venues, and collaborate with passersby, artists, and community organizers, using the art of interaction as a tool for dialogue and creative social justice. I earn a living by providing professional development and design support for faculty at LaGuardia Community College/CUNY.
Photos: Priscilla Stadler and Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
Take a Nice, Slow Breath
I invited people in Jamaica to join me in an everyday act that unites us all: breathing. Breathing with someone else is a subtle invitation to slow down and to connect. It encourages people to pause as they live their (often stressful) lives. Passersby, shopkeepers, artists, visitors, youth volunteers and others took a breath with me. The noises of the busy mall disappeared when we breathed together. A friend pointed out to me that the word “conspire” literally means to breathe together, reminding me of the significance of personal connection as a place to start organizing from. It sounds easy, but is not. As Linda M. Montano writes in the collection Life as Material for Art and Vice Versa, “Sometimes we have to practice being the persona we need to be in order to function more beneficially…” Throughout the planning and implementation process of TaNSB (take a nice slow breath), I consciously reminded myself to slow down and take a deep breath. This awareness became part of the project. I am grateful for this reminder to breathe deeply, and to be able to offer others the opportunity to slow down and breathe together. Talismans will remind people to take a nice, slow breath in the future. Perhaps they’ll invite others to do so with them.
About the artist
I am an artist who works with installation and human interactions. For a few years I’ve been making Fragile City, a series of dyed cheesecloth buildings investigating vulnerability as individuals and as communities. The New York City Council, via the Queens Council on the Arts, has funded my projects through grants. I show my work in various New York venues, and collaborate with passersby, artists, and community organizers, using the art of interaction as a tool for dialogue and creative social justice. I earn a living by providing professional development and design support for faculty at LaGuardia Community College/CUNY.
Photos: Priscilla Stadler and Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
