Brice Ammar-Khodja

Immersed in the heart of the gallery-restaurant Dalan Art Gallery in Yerevan, Armenia, Breath.am is a participatory artistic dispositif composed of three happenings and an exhibition. Inspired by the “legendary” sense of Armenian hospitality, this project invites the public into an improvised dialogue. As participants drink, eat, and debate the “art of the Armenian table,” sensors—whose tentacular electronics seem to expend across the tabletop—collect real-time data related to breathing (blood alcohol level, voice pitch) and movement (vibration).

The environment appears to respond to the state of each participant: beams of light take shape on the table, sounds emerge from acoustic membranes, and objects move throughout the meal. At times a spectator, at others a participant, the table seems to seek communication with the public, altering or stimulating each person’s discourse.

The exhibition space thus becomes a research laboratory activated through the encounter between the public and the artists. The aim of this performance is to gather, produce, and archive aspects of Armenian culture that exist only in oral form.