Title: We Breathe Each Other In and Out of Existence
Year: 2023
Technique: HD video
Size: Variable
Edition: 6
Colombia, 1963. He studied advertising at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá, as well as art and design in London. He has participated in the Venice Biennale, Italy; the Havana Biennial, Cuba; the Mercosur Biennial, Brazil; and the Tirana Biennale, Albania.
He has participated in exhibitions in several countries around the world, and in 2020, an important retrospective exhibition on the artist was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá. His work is part of collections such as Daros Latinamerica, Zurich; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the and the Museum of Modern Art, Bogotá, among others. He won the National Prize for Colombian Artists.
Fernando Arias developed We Breathe Each Other In and Out of Existence during his participation in Más Arte Más Acción at Documenta 15 in Kassel.
Based on Karlsaue Park tree planting plans, Arias spent considerable time thoroughly rendering every tree in the park, creating images with overlapping spheres that evoke the complexity of underground root networks. These spheres symbolize communication and mutual support between trees, as well as representing individual worlds that interlink and coexist with one another.
The black and white video, recorded during the production of the piece, reveals the visual poetry of the park, where nature’s harmony and beauty converge. This approach transforms botanical representations into deep and visually striking reflections on the interconnection and reciprocity of nature. The images, filled with serenity and balance, invite viewers to contemplate the intricate network of underground connections that sustain trees and, in turn, human existence.
Arias’ work does not just stop at highlighting the beauty and complexity of natural ecosystems, it also serves as a meditation on the human-nature relationship in an era of rapid loss of biodiversity and climate change. Through his detailed renderization and black and white palette, We Breathe Each Other In and Out of Existence urges us to ponder our codependence and the pressing need to preserve the natural environments that sustain us.