Michal Czinege: Deep Breath

The installation is based on the artist’s observations of how small changes in the spectrum of visible light affect human perception. The work is built on the relationship of two colours and their reactions to light’s wavelengths. It is a spatial installation that combines large-scale paintings with slowly pulsing light. The temporal intervals of the fluctuating light evoke a feeling of animated life on the otherwise static canvases. The rhythm of the light’s pulse is a reference to the process of oxygen transfer through the human body, which takes place approximately 12-20 times every minute.  

In the process of making “Deep Breath”, it was important for Czinege not to build up the paintings by means of brushstrokes, which always leave an imprint of the artist’s personal handwork. By contrast, the artist wanted the canvas to do the work organically, so he chose to seep paint through its texture instead of painting on it. In this way, the process moves closer to correlate with the organic diffusion of oxygen in the body. It is crucial to make the viewer a part of this deep breath, rather than to let them follow it from afar.