Air Quite Literally Breathes Life into This Outdoor Installation

For the current NGV Triennial, at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, the institution commissioned 25 projects and curated 100 more, under the themes of Magic, Matter, and Memory. Among those responding to Matter—i.e. nature, materials, and making—is a gigantic outdoor sphere titled (This Is) Air by Nic Brunsdon, who was also awarded the annual NGV Architecture Commission, on view in the museum’s garden through June 16.
 
The 47-foot-diameter white orb essentially uses air as a building material. Made of inner and outer layers of synthetic recyclable PVC, it incorporates fans, vents, and a water ballast, which make it expand and contract, like it’s breathing. “The inner sphere stays inflated, providing structural stability and a backdrop for the outer sphere to play against,” the Perth-based architect explains, while the vents, near the base, “take air in, then exhale it out, making it both present and heard.”

Brunsdon’s inspirations were varied: the emphasis on respiration during the pandemic; late artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s monumental, wrapped works; the history of kinetic sculptures; the pair of intelligence-gathering domes at Waihopai Station in New Zealand. His result is both commanding and playful, inviting contemplation as well as active interaction. Children are often playing around it as it inhales and exhales.