‘Breathing-with’: a design tactic for the more-than-human

ABSTRACTIn this article, we present breathing-with as a contribution to cultivating concrete design tactics engaging with the more-than-human. We arrive at the concept based on an analysis of three distinct projects, each aimed at exploring the relationality between human and non-human bodies, and of extending the notion of the body in design processes toward the more-than-human, with a focus on breath and breathing. We analyze each project from the perspective of how breathing allowed us as designers to move from the intimate experience of our own bodies into an extended bodily awareness that included the more-than-human as material, living and social bodies. Based on this exploration, we propose breathing-with as a design tactic that can be used throughout the design process. We further reflect on how breathing-with can provide a generative design tactic for zooming in and out of the entangled relationships between human and more-than-human bodies, through surfacing notions of intimacy and vulnerability.KEYWORDS: Soma designaffective interaction designbreathingmore-than-humanvulnerabilityintimacy AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank all collaborators and stakeholders in the three projects. For LYDSPOR, we specifically would like to thank Majken Overgaard (CATCH, Elsinore), Line Brun Stallknecht (City Museum, Elsinore) and Laura Albeck Ibsen (Municipality of Elsinore). We also thank Halfdan Hauch Jensen, Manager of the AIR Lab, IT University of Copenhagen, who has been a core part of this project and has provided valuable help in designing and developing the sonic experiences and prototypes. The LYDSPOR project was generously supported by WS Audiology.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsJonas FritschJonas Fritsch, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Digital Design the Digital Design Department at the IT University of Copenhagen. He is head of the Affective Interaction & Relations (AIR) Lab and the Design Research Section. His work revolves around a creative thinking of interaction design, design processes, experience philosophy and affect theory through practical design experiments with interactive sound and physical interfaces.Vasiliki TsaknakiVasiliki Tsaknaki, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Digital Design department at IT University of Copenhagen. Her research combines materials experiences, computational crafts and somatic design methods. Through practice-based studies she investigates and reflects on intersections of these areas, probing the space of designing for wellbeing and exploring (bio)data as a design material.Karin RydingKarin Ryding, PhD, is an external lecturer at the Digital Design department at IT University of Copenhagen. Her research interests include experience design, play, ritual, affect and performativity. Through design-led somatic research her aim is to explore the transformative potential of play in everyday life.Stina Hasse JørgensenStina Hasse Jørgensen (she/her), PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Digital Design department at IT University of Copenhagen. Her research explores questions at the intersection of interactive sound, feminist theory and sensory ethnography through practice-based research and design experiments.