“the air we breathe” (2022/2023) is an expanded, experimental documentary that thinks through the complexities of air pollution by weaving together themes of environmental catastrophe, environmental racism, cultural and political shifts, and conspiracy.

Combining research about Edmonton’s air quality, along with personal storytelling and speculative imaginings, this project deeply considers the complicated ways in which our air impacts us: from the way that smells travel through it and the memories they evoke; to the physical impacts of pollutants through shared inhalation; to the ways in which the air serves as a metaphor of connection in a cultural sense. Exploring the systemically racist decisions that result in unequally distributed impacts of air pollutants across geographies, this work considers the act of breathing as one of both political and social potential.

In addition to the gallery work, “the air we breathe” also includes a participatory element. Integrating a previous project Learning the Signals/Change is Coming and with a focus now in and around Winnipeg, this version of the participatory project will take place across March 2024. This collective endeavour will spend time thinking about the ways that smell and memory intertwine across issues of air pollution and social/cultural shifts.

With thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for supporting this project!

Chapters (March 2024):

Week one
(March 14-20)

Week two
(March 21-27)

Week three
(March 28-April 3)


Selected Gathered Data: