Sitting with My Breath (Transparent II)

Georgia Sagri created “Sitting with My Breath” for KölnSkulptur #11 by relocating two park benches from Athens to Skulpturenpark Köln in Germany. Each bench is cut and modified to hold a hand-blown glass element shaped like a large bubble. For the artist, this component is a physical manifestation of her breath, while the altered bench recalls how a living body both supports and is activated by breathing. The bubble is produced through the labor of several people, including Sagri and glass technicians from a workshop in the Harz Mountains, in a process of holding, turning, and supporting molten glass as it takes shape. The title draws on the artist’s exploration of care within “IASI.” This ongoing research project began as a way to recover from, and prepare for, strenuous performances through techniques based on breathing, movement, and voice. The work offers passersby a place to sit, pause, recollect, and rest, proposing a more open-ended structure of movement. By introducing glass, an unexpected material for public sculpture, Sagri opens the piece to vulnerability and chance, presenting a fragile monument exposed to accident or deliberate action as a gesture of trust.