Airs

I began collecting airs shortly before the exhibition Air de... at ADN Galeria. The question appeared when I received an object bought online that had travelled protected by small cushions of air: where was the air inside actually from? The parcel could have a recognisable origin, but the air did not necessarily have to have been produced, inflated or sealed in the same place.

From there I began keeping fragments of bubble wrap, bags and inflated packaging from different places. Some I found myself; many others have been brought to me by friends, family, artists and people who knew about the project. Each sample contains air, but also a route, a relationship and a story of circulation.

For me, the collection works as a material cartography of globalisation. The first places are, logically, those closest to me; but territories with a strong presence in international production and sales networks —China, Japan, South Korea or the United States— quickly appear. The shape of the archive depends not only on geography: it depends on proximity, trade, logistics and on who can travel or make something reach me.