Ivana Dama: Breathing Alarms

Breathing Alarms by New York-based artist Ivana Dama, born and raised in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, reimagines this East German guardhouse as an immersive environment where visitors engage directly with sound, space, and perception. At the center of the installation is an air-raid siren, a device historically associated with monitoring and protection whose form and function are deeply embedded in the Wende Museum’s material history. Rather than being triggered mechanically or electronically, the custom siren is activated by the breath of visitors. Their breath is translated into siren sound while simultaneously activating an animation of birds within a bespoke aluminum zoetrope. Collective inhalations and exhalations power an analog system in which sound emerges through shared physical presence. The intensity and character of the siren shift with the volume, rhythm, and frequency of breath, turning subtle bodily actions into acoustic experience.

Breathing Alarms highlights the relationship between air, sound, and motion, drawing attention to the airflow and vibration that underlie acoustic technologies. Visitors encounter the siren not as a fixed signal but as a responsive instrument, one that reveals how sound can be generated, modulated, and sustained through collective participation. The work extends Dama’s research into alarm signals across social and natural systems, from the absence of birdsong as a warning sign to the role of air-raid sirens in signaling ecological, political, and social concerns.

Breathing Alarms is made possible by the generous support of the David Bermant Foundation. Developed in collaboration with the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, with researcher Alfonso Parra Rubio leading design and digital fabrication, and research scientist Quentin Bolsee contributing to system development. Additional support includes Jason Nuttle from the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design for mechanical motion system design, and Yonatan Rozin for real-time interactive system design.