Breathless

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“Breathless” by Cornelia Parker, 2001
(silver-plated brass wind instruments, flattened and suspended on stainless steel wire)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London, September 2003

“For her work, Cornelia Parker squashed 54 brass instruments! And then hung them using wire! She squashed the instruments using the hinges of Tower Bridge! They were flattened as the bridge opened and closed. She has named this artwork Breathless, because you can’t blow through the instruments anymore. You might get out of breath if you tried! This piece fits into a round ceiling space (a rotunda) of the V&A museum perfectly. The instruments are designed to be seen from both above and below. When an artwork has been made for a certain place and fills up or changes the space it is called an installation.” (Women Artists in the V&A Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum)