‘Breathe with Me’ in Central Park, Jeppe Hein and ART 2030

Jeppe Hein

“Life begins with an inhale and ends with an exhale. In-between we all breathe and live different lives. And yet, each breath keeps us together, connected, sharing the same air.” Jeppe Hein

Jeppe Hein and ART 2030’s project is a week-long global art action inviting audiences around the world to paint their own individual ‘breath’. “Breathe with Me” is an interactive public art project to raise awareness that the air we breathe is part of our connected world and climate. In ‘Breathe with Me’ every breath takes the form of painted blue lines on canvas walls: each participant paints as they exhale in long downward brush strokes, creating a continuous mural. Everyone paints the lines of their breath differently, yet each line forms part of a universal whole. The goal of “Breathe with Me” is to encourage the widest possible public participation, both in New York and globally during the week of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit and opening of the 74th General Assembly, highlighting the urgency of Climate Action in 2019.

From September 25-27, 2019, “Breathe with Me” moved outside to Central Park as one of the largest public art projects inside Central Park in recent years. Thousands of participants, including Nicolai Wallner, were invited to paint their breath in a communal art action over three days.

Filmed and edited by Andreas Rosforth.

carrie emberlyn