The Breathing Lesson
TITLE
The Breathing Lesson
DIRECTOR
Dora García
COUNTRY
Belgium
YEAR
2001
DURATION
6′
GENRE
Video Art
The Breathing Lesson
A middleaged woman caresses the head of a very young girl. After these few seconds of comfort, she resumes a commanding stance and begins to clap her hands with short, measured rests. Each different type of clapping seems to be a sort of coded message, because the young girl reacts to each by adapting the rhythm and the depth of her breathing. There is even one type of clapping that makes the girl react by not breathing at all.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Dora García
Dora García (born 1965, Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish contemporary artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses experimental film, video, performance, installation, and text. Her work explores the boundaries between reality and fiction, often examining questions of control, freedom, identity, and the relationship between performer and audience. García studied Fine Arts at the University of Salamanca and at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Since the late 1990s, she has developed a body of work that frequently combines scripted situations, performance, and moving image. Her films include The Breathing Lesson (2001), The Deviant Majority (2010), The Joycean Society (2013), Segunda Vez (2018), and Amor Rojo (2024). Her work has been presented internationally at major exhibitions and festivals, including the Venice Biennale, documenta, Manifesta, and the Sydney and São Paulo Biennials. In 2011, she represented Spain at the 54th Venice Biennale. In 2021, she was awarded Spain’s National Award for Plastic Arts in recognition of her innovative and interdisciplinary artistic practice.
- DirectorDora García
- Screenplay
- Cinematography
- Cast
- Editing
- Producer/s Dora García
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project TitleThe Breathing Lesson
- Project Type Video Art
- Completion Date01 Jan 2001
- Country of originBelgium
- Country of filmingBelgium
- LanguageNo Dialogue
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Dora García
Dora García (born 1965, Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish contemporary artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses experimental film, video, performance, installation, and text. Her work explores the boundaries between reality and fiction, often examining questions of control, freedom, identity, and the relationship between performer and audience. García studied Fine Arts at the University of Salamanca and at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Since the late 1990s, she has developed a body of work that frequently combines scripted situations, performance, and moving image. Her films include The Breathing Lesson (2001), The Deviant Majority (2010), The Joycean Society (2013), Segunda Vez (2018), and Amor Rojo (2024). Her work has been presented internationally at major exhibitions and festivals, including the Venice Biennale, documenta, Manifesta, and the Sydney and São Paulo Biennials. In 2011, she represented Spain at the 54th Venice Biennale. In 2021, she was awarded Spain’s National Award for Plastic Arts in recognition of her innovative and interdisciplinary artistic practice.
