Below the belt

Excerpt of video and documentation of Below the Belt at Serial Space Gallery

2011. Video projection, sound, interactive and computational media, respiratory sensor, arduino, boxing champion belt, boxing head piece.

Below the Belt is a breath-responsive interactive installation that uses boxing props, embedded with biomedical sensors, to collect bio-sensed data of the breathing behaviour of participants. These ‘competitors’ are allocated four minutes to follow the instruction of their breathing coach, Tony, on how to be a winner in deep belly breathing. Below the Belt amplifies and extends the bodily experience of participants within this video installation.

The work examines the tensions between competitive contact sports and the inward focus of breathing practices that support them. By provoking participants to explore the broader relationship between their breathing behaviour and emotions it stretches their focus beyond their fleshy boundary bringing awareness to the affective relationship between these bodily responses and their social interactions.