Static Apnea | A Performative Installation

The Performance Arcade , Wellington NZ

March 10-19 2017


Creator and Director: Chris McElroen

Installation Scenography : Troy Hourie

Performer and co-creator: Andrea Goldman

Performer and co-creator: Julia Watt

Artistic Director: Sam Trubridge


I was engaged as a visual artist to create an immersive installation for a performative piece piece set to convey a visceral experience informed by the sport of free-diving. It is performed in precisely 9 minutes and 2 seconds—the amount of time Russian world record setting freediver, Natalia Molchanova, could hold her breath. The piece will seek to explore depth–both out of choice and out of necessity. Through this cycle of questioning we come to understand what drives someone to search the depths and expand their perception of personal limitations. The repetition of this work several times in the hour, many times a day becomes a feat of endurance, and a deeper engagement with the questions and their answer.


Video of the experience to come.

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