Breathing Bodies - V|LF-Spiro3D
An art-science exhibition exploring the invisible dimensions of the human body
Aberdeen, Scotland | 1 August – 22 November 2026
How can we make visible what happens inside the human body? How can medical imaging and interactive technologies transform the way we perceive our bodies, experience breathing and understand our own physiological processes?
With Breathing Bodies, Le sas and the University of Aberdeen brought art and science together across the city of Aberdeen, presenting a series of installations that invite audiences to explore the visible and invisible dimensions of the living body.
Developed as part of the European research project V|LF-Spiro3D, the exhibition brought together two art-science works, Everything Goes and Primary Intimacy of being, presented across cultural and university venues throughout the city. Through medical imaging, interactive technologies and sensory experiences, these works offer different perspectives on the human body and invite audiences to reconsider how we see, perceive and experience ourselves.
Two works, multiple perspectives on the body
Everything goes — Aberdeen Art Gallery
What if breathing could become something we can see and hear?
Presented at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Tout passe transforms respiratory activity into an interactive artistic experience. Through an augmented three-dimensional reflection of the body, visitors can encounter their own breathing in a new way, exploring the relationship between physiological processes, perception and digital representation.
By making an ordinarily invisible bodily activity perceptible, the installation invites visitors to pause and reflect on breathing as both a biological process and an intimate, lived experience.
Primary Intimacy of being — Across the University of Aberdeen
How can medical imaging technologies help us discover the inner structures of our own bodies?
Primary Intimacy of being explores the body's interior through different imaging technologies, bringing scientific representations into an artistic and sensory context. For Breathing Bodies, three versions of the work were presented across the University of Aberdeen:
Each version offers a different perspective on the body's internal structures, drawing on technologies used in medical research and clinical practice. By presenting these images beyond their conventional scientific and medical settings, the work invites audiences to reflect on the relationship between scientific observation, bodily intimacy and visual perception.
An exhibition across the city
Rather than concentrating the works in a single venue, Breathing Bodies unfolded across Aberdeen, bringing artistic experiences into both cultural and academic spaces. From Aberdeen Art Gallery to the University's research and teaching environments, the exhibition created opportunities for different audiences to encounter art-science practices in a variety of settings.
This city-wide presence also established a dialogue with the EU Chest MRI Advanced School, held at the University of Aberdeen from 15 to 17 September 2026. Organised by the V|LF-Spiro3D consortium with the support of the University of Aberdeen, the School brought together an international, multidisciplinary community of researchers, clinicians, students, industry partners, NHS consultants, anthropologists and radiographers to discuss lung anatomy and physiology, as well as developments in high- and low-field MRI.
By extending these themes into public and cultural spaces, Breathing Bodies complemented the scientific programme and opened up questions surrounding medical imaging, respiration and the human body to a wider audience.
Where art and science meet
For Le sas, Breathing Bodies reflects the potential of art-science collaborations to create new encounters between scientific research, artistic experimentation and public engagement.
Medical imaging is not only a tool for investigating the body: it can also become a material for artistic exploration, opening up new perspectives on what usually remains invisible. Through interactive experiences and different representations of the body's interior, the exhibition encouraged visitors to reflect on breathing, bodily perception and the technologies that shape our understanding of human physiology.
By bringing these works into dialogue with the research developed within V|LF-Spiro3D, Breathing Bodies demonstrated how artistic practices can extend the reach of scientific research and make complex subjects accessible through sensory experience, curiosity and reflection.
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About the project
Breathing Bodies was developed by Le sas in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen as part of V|LF-Spiro3D, a European research project dedicated to the development of three-dimensional low- and very-low-field magnetic resonance imaging for respiratory research.
The exhibition ran from 1 August to 22 November 2026. It was supported by Innovate UK and received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No. 101099934.
Partners: Le sas · University of Aberdeen
Associated event: EU Chest MRI Advanced School, 15–17 September 2026
Exhibition venues: Aberdeen Art Gallery · King's College Conference Centre · Students' Union Building · Suttie Centre
