Breathing Room

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Breathing Room is a free, immersive, walk-in, kinetic installation by artist Anna Berry that beautifully combines organic and machine elements into a unique sensory experience.

Entering the tunnel-like installation, the visitor is enveloped by 28,000 gently ‘breathing’ cones, which offers a distinctive, otherworldly encounter. Its mechanical exterior skeleton contrasts sharply with the organic interior, creating a sense of the uncanny and encouraging the viewer to reflect on their own surroundings and relationship to the natural world.

Every piece of the structure is bespoke and hand-crafted in the UK. The outer frame and motors have been created from recycled bicycle parts and a bespoke box steel build. Its 28,000 cones resemble paper but are actually made from Tyvek, a fully recyclable, woven material that is used for specialist packaging and protective clothing. Sustainability is inherent to the construction of Breathing Room and makes it of particular interest to those exploring sustainability, the environment, construction, and engineering.

Breathing Room inherently creates a space for contemplation and reflection, which we believe would be particularly appropriate in the context of this theme, offering viewers a space to reflect on the pressing themes of climate change and their relationship to their environment.

Breathing Room was created in collaboration with Clive Doherty and in partnership with 101 Creation Space. It was originally commissioned and supported by Unlimited with funding from Arts Council England, co-commissioned by The Stables for IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2021. In 2023 the Breathing Room is presented with and funded by the Royal Docks Team.