Phil Dadson Breath of Wind (2009)

17 hot air balloons and a brass band.

"Soon after a move to Beachhaven on Auckland's North Shore in 1987, I was abruptly woken one early Sunday morning by a mysteriously loud blast of air above the house, and then another, and clambered out onto the deck to witness an enormous hot air balloon hovering above me, the morning stillness punctuated by intermittent blasts of fiery hot air. I had a vision then of musicians in balloon baskets slowly drifting like a drone-cloud through the blue azure."

Artist's statement

Selected exhibitions

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland (2011)
9 Dragon Heads symposium in Sarajevo (2009)

Credits & notes

A Phil Dadson project made in collaboration with the Levin Brass band (24 musicians) and the NZ hot-air balloon fraternity.

Produced in association with Television Spaceman for New Artland (2008) a TVNZ arts programme, and later premiered as a two-screen, stand-alone video installation.

Installation details

Option 1: One large screen projection and one large LCD screen.
Option 2: Two x LCD screens. Looped. Non-synchronous. Stereo audio, mixed source.
Ratio: 16:9