One Breath

Dear readers,

I'm Denise Batchelor, a New Zealand video artist, and I want to create a new body of work focusing on breath.

A fascination with breath can be traced back to my childhood. I would watch with anticipation as my older brother Vaughan disappeared under the waves, and I was not alone in wondering if he would ever resurface! My project One Breath is inspired by his forty plus years as a free-diving fisherman, gathering paua (abalone) from what is considered to be some of the roughest coastline of New Zealand. He has numerous stories of survival, including attacks from sea mammals and the sinking of several boats. I have begun the process of recording his storytelling as part of this project.

One Breath will examine the subject of breath, specifically the holding of one's breath, as is fundamental to freediving. For thousands of years, freedivers have gathered food, harvested resources, and reclaimed the sunken. Exploring various branches of this community today (competitive, commercial, and recreational), One Breath will examine physical, psychological and perhaps even metaphorical associations with the discipline of free-diving.

I'm excited to be one of seven New Zealand artists accepted to take part in Deep Anatomy, an amazing art/performance/cultural program organized to complement Vertical Blue, an New Zealand freediving competition taking place in the Bahamas (see links below). These programs provide a unique opportunity for research, gathering material and dialogue between the multi-disciplined groups attending.

Using video, photography, and audio as my chosen mediums, I will be recording brief vignettes and juxtaposing 'still framed' video imagery with recordings of oceanic sounds and freedivers oral stories (including those of my brother) and will weave together these gathered materials on my return to New Zealand. An exhibition is planned in New Zealand in 2016.

I am passionate about my practice and about this project. I am asking the 'Boosted' community for help with some of the associated costs (the Bahamas are a long way from NZ)! Any contribution, no matter how small, will help make this project possible.

As a graduate (MFA) of Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, I have exhibited widely in New Zealand and New Zealandly. My work Ruru is currently showing at the Dowse Museum, Wellington. In 2013, I was Auckland Council Regional Parks Artist-in-Residence and have work in various public and private collections, including The Wallace Arts Trust.

Links

Denise Batchelor website: www.denisebatchelor.com

Auckland Council Artist-in-Residence documentary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPgMW8si4Aw

Rob Garrett, Curator: http://www.robgarrettcfa.com/content/2013/05/25/denise-batchelor

D-Photo Blog:  http://www.dphoto.co.nz/blogs/delight-in-detail-denise-batchelor/

Deep Anatomy: http://theplaygroundnz.com/deep-anatomy/

Vertical Blue: http://verticalblue.net

Fluid States: http://www.fluidstates.org/page.php?par=16&id=20