‘Outbreath’ is a life-size document of one two hundredth of a second in the growth and decay of the normally invisible turbulence trail formed during exhalation. It was created by local artist Mat Chivers in collaboration with BVI researchers Colin Dalton and Neill Campbell and with the BBC Natural History Unit.

A small piece of solid carbon dioxide was placed in the hollow below Mat Chivers’ tongue. As he exhaled, the solid C02 sublimated and became a gas that was visible in the carefully focused light of the laboratory. This constantly shifting and nebulous process was documented using three synchronised high speed digital cameras.

Mat selected an archetypal image of this process then, by drawing on film stills from each of the three perspectives, he defined the surface of this event which was then transcribed into three dimensions to create a geometry that was constructed using rapid prototyping technology.