ITS:
Your creative lab is a celebration of breathing. What inspired you to give shape to breathing?
HK:
I was influenced by my past work “The Breathing”, and was inspired by the concept of breathing as seen in Eastern philosophies and my personal motto: “Believe in the power of imagination”. I think “Breathing” isn’t merely a physical activity, but also a way to recognise one’s own existence. It is life itself. By visualising the invisible energy, I wanted to make people face their own true self in an honest way, cherishing the connection with others, and growing their awareness about all life on the planet.
ITS:
'Breath Breath Breath' is also a beautiful testimony on how to teach children the importance of breathing. How did you find adapting your breathing concept for children? And how did you find making a children's book?
HK:
In the lab program, the participants can make a crown which can visualise their own breathing. I hope children feel their own breath, recognise their existence and become aware that “we are a part of the world”.
Then, I decided to make the picture book to convey the concept more easily and friendly.
In the picture book, I tried to explain my concept by introducing stories related to breathing in the view of Asian/Japanese cultures such as a myth, religion, Eastern philosophy, etc… I also added some actions to play around and animate the movement of breathing.
I hope young participants will enjoy them and are curious about different cultures and feel there is a natural mutual understanding.