PIN–UP PREMIERE: SO–IL’s L’AIR POUR L’AIR (WITH ARTIST Ana Prvački)

PIN–UP is proud to premiere L’air pour l’air, a three-minute video documenting a performance of the same name by architects SO–IL in collaboration with artist Ana Prvački.

Originally staged in September 2017, during the Chicago Architecture Biennial, L’air pour l’air meditates upon complex notions such as the relationship between purity and pollution, and the distinctions between self, body, objects, and nature.

Inspired by the abundant plant life in Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory, SO–IL and Prvački created an ensemble of air-filtering mesh enclosures, designed to clean the air through breathing. Part mask, part shelter, the enclosures are worn by an ensemble of saxophone, flute, trombone, and vocals from the Chicago Sinfonietta. Through performing an original composition, De Aere (concerning the air), by composer Veronika Krausas, the musicians are “cleaning the air that produces the music,” thereby ensuring the continued legacy of musicians as cities’ atmospheres grow increasingly polluted.

Created by SO–IL in collaboration with Ana Prvački

Music by Veronika Krausas and performed by Kimberly Jones (soprano), Janica MacDonald (flute), Jeremy Ruthrauff (tenor saxophone), John McAllister (sackbut/trombone) of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Special thanks to Jim Hirsch and Siki Im.

Photography by Jeff Perlman.