BREATH MOUNTAIN
2021-present
Breath Mountain is a creative research project by Alexis Elton and Nina Elder, and a rotating cast of scientists, land managers, and archivists. We practice in the hybrid spaces between creativity and field research, resulting in sculpture, video, and collaborative performance. Our goal is to develop understanding of unique ecologies and phenomena and to examine how the planet respirates. We become clouds to better understand the phenomena of accumulation, dispersal, and shape-shifting boundarylessness. Alexis is a sculptor and performance artist who works with scent, breath, and sensory relationships within ecological research. Nina creates drawing, sculptures, and performances that explore ecological dynamics, as well as teaching and writing about embodied research methodologies.
research sites and residencies:
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Watershed Center for Art and Ecology in Chicago
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The American Museum of Natural History Southwestern Research Station in southern Arizona
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Greenhorns in Pembroke, Maine
performance
research
SKY ISLANDS 2024
Breath Mountain is an ongoing creative research project by Alexis Elton and Nina Elder. We are artists who practice in the hybrid spaces between creativity and science. With a dedication to experimentation and deep observation, we seek to understand the moisture cycle and its unique ecologic expressions. This multi-site, interdisciplinary project uses the methodology of field science, combined with aesthetic and material ingenuity, to explore respirating landscapes. This video is excerpted from a ten day residency at the American Museum of Natural History's Desert Research Station in Arizona's Sky Islands.