Breathing I

Sophie Rose

Breathing I
Image credit: Sophie Rose

Abstract:

Breathing I is the first in a three-part series (Breathing I-III) that externalizes emotional responses to traumatic experiences through breath and bilateral coordination [1], [2]. Bilateral movement techniques, widely used in trauma therapy [3], [4], engage both hemispheres of the brain, promoting bodily unification and focused attention [5], [6], [7]. This work integrates trauma-informed movement practices with wearable gestural music technology to explore sonic representations of psychological states in a multi-channel spatial audio environment. The performance sonifies panic through asymmetric arm and hand movements, breath-based vocalizations, and visual projections that depict physiological dysregulation. Datagloves capture movement data, modulating live and sampled breath sounds to create a dynamically evolving soundscape. Visual projections, generated in real-time, use torus meshes that expand and contract — an analogy to hemoglobin’s role in oxygen transport (see Fig 1.). The integration of movement, sound, and visuals reinforces the connection between breath, blood flow, and the body’s autonomic responses. As Adriana Cavarero notes, “Nothing more than the act of breathing is able to testify to the proximity of human beings to one another; nothing else better confirms their communication…” to signify the essence of being alive [8, p. 31]. Breathing I amplifies this concept, transforming breath into both a personal and collective sonic expression.