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INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — After being out of operation since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Breath” is back in motion in the Indianapolis International Airport parking garage. Installed when the airport opened in its current location in 2008, the piece uses motors to simulate a human breathing at a relaxed pace in the center of the parking garage’s atrium. In December, eight of the work’s 11 motors were replaced to bring the kinetic artwork back to life.
“I’m always happy to go out and work on it, and I’m happiest when it’s breathing,” said artist Greg Hull, who created “Breath” and who helped repair the broken motors. Hull, who is dean of Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University Indianapolis, has done maintenance on the piece periodically per his contract with the airport. It’s important to Hull that he is a part of the evolution of the piece.
In 2020, when air travel lulled due to the pandemic, the motors running “Breath” were shut off. When the installation was to be brought back to life in 2021, the defunct motors left the piece motionless and deflated. While helping to install “Blue Skies,” the airport’s latest art installation by Brenna McCarty, last winter, Hull was able to fix “Breath.”
Stephanie McFarland, a spokeswoman for the airport, said “Breath” is the most photographed installation in the airport. With his artwork up and running again, Hull hopes airport visitors today get the same feeling seeing “Breath” as he intended when he began working on it in 2006: a sense of calm.
Hull made a point to have the structure open and close at the typical speed of how people breathe when they are at rest, taking a breath every one to two seconds.
“I love to travel, but it can be really stressful,” Hull said. “It was important to me to help people be welcomed home or to help them relax. I wanted to have something to help people just begin to breathe slowly and add something positive to people’s travel experience.”
Despite the recent repair, Hull said “Breath” will need to be shut off again later this summer for routine cleaning.
Mirror Indy reporter Breanna Cooper covers arts and culture. Email her at breanna.cooper@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X.
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