This remarkable collaborative installation by Bay Area-based artists Chafe and Niemeyer created an active relationship between SJMA visitors and a group of bamboo plants growing in the installation. Each participant walked up the stairs into a walled chamber, closed the door, and breathed. Through a unique process, the participant’s breath within the plant-filled environment was translated into music.

The artists received a grant from Intel Corporation for Oxygen Flute and its related research. In addition to Chafe and Niemeyer, the following team worked to realize the project: Patricio de la Cuadra, flute physical model design; Ben Dean, production designer; Michael Gurevich, hydrophone recordings of shrimp in Monterey; Richard Mortimer Humphrey, I/O Programmer; and Manuel Planessi, Welding.

Project realization for Oxygen Flute was funded by Intel Corporation, and Installation signage was provided by Digital Signage.