Abstract

Breath can bridge bodily and psychological boundaries between the subject and object, Self and Other, human and computer. By creating an interactive zone between the virtual and the real, Mixed Reality artworks have the potential to recontexualize breathing as a synchronized mode of communication. The following three projects, ALIBI (2002) by Calgary collective The Einstein Brain Project, Mobile Feelings (2002-4) by Austrian artists Christa Sommerer and Laurent Migonneau, and Coexistence (2001) by Los Angeles-based artist Rebecca Allen, facilitate interpersonal relationships between human and machine or between two humans that contribute to a shared embodied experience and intersubjective intimacy. By experimenting with new technologies such as anatomically-lifelike body interfaces, haptic mobile devices or force feedback game pads, these artists explore ways in which a person’s biological imprint can be measured through their breath, as well as how participants react and understand each other through the exchange of biodata, without any need for physical contact or verbal language. By analyzing these works through phenomenological and neuroscientific discourse, this thesis seeks to provide a nuanced discussion about the levels of intimacy, emotion, or embodied connection felt by the individuals participating in these hybrid environments in the context of today’s hypermediated world.