A colorful inflatable life jacket with a yellow detachable bag, decorated with abstract patterns, displayed on a blue background.

Breathing Exchange Temporium (B.E.T)

There is a kind of air I dream of claiming back. It is drenched with humid soil, rain, and fallen fruit. In this dreams I gasp for air, as if the lungs could bring all of it back. I remember then I am suspended, held between forces— waiting for a resolution that may never come.

Year: 2021

Materials: Fishing float Polyethylene tube. 1680 Denier Ballistic Nylon. Thermal gold blanket. Medical grade latex rubbing. Neodymium gold magnets. Hand-printed poly satin. Gold lycra. Security grade textile ribbon. Seatbelts. Medical grade respiratory tube

Dimensions: 80’ X 106’ X 12’

A woman in a yellow shirt setting up a yellow and blue inflatable boat inside a small room.
An art installation resembling a life-sized astronaut helmet and oxygen gear, decorated with colorful patterned fabric, mounted on a white wall with a blue fabric backdrop.
Close-up of a colorful inflatable with a purple, yellow, and pink design, featuring a yellow and black coiled valve hose and a yellow strap, displaying the words 'FREE RIDE'.

The Breathing Exchange Temporium (B.E.T.) is an inflatable survival device that echos an external lung, a device that places the body in a suspended state between floating and sinking. Wrapped in hand printed textile depicting iconography from online games used to bypass currency exchange controls.

A colorful pinball machine playfield with various targets, ramps, and bumpers, featuring a pink, yellow, blue, and purple color scheme and the words "Disappearing Bank" in the center.
  • An artist's workspace with drawing supplies, a large pinball machine blueprint, colored pencils, paper, scissors, and a laptop on a table.
  • Two women wearing masks and gloves working together with a large printing screen on a table, creating a colorful print design.
  • Two women wearing masks and aprons examine a large, pink and white abstract print on a table in an art studio.
  • A woman wearing glasses and a black face mask pouring purple liquid dye onto a large piece of fabric at a printmaking studio.
  • Two women are working together to screen print a colorful pinball machine design onto fabric. They are lying on a large flat surface, holding a frame steady as the design is transferred. The design features pink, yellow, white, and red colors with various numbered sections and patterns.
  • Two women in masks working on a colorful printing project at a table.
  • Two women in a print shop are working on a large, colorful pinball machine artwork printing a vibrant, intricate design on a long printing bed.
  • Woman in a blue sweater smiling while leaning on a long, colorful abstract artwork laid out on a large table in an art studio.

The hand-printed textile was made during my postgraduate apprenticeship at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia using silkscreen pattern repeat. The textile pattern, named "Deadflip" after the pinball move of exerting control by not moving, has 3-color inks on gold base, with 2 versions: one on gold poly-satin used for B.E.T and one on white cotton that is homed at the FWM archive.