Piero Fogliati’s “Macchina che respira” (1990) is a kinetic sculpture built entirely around the realization of the author’s artistic utopia: imbuing lifeless machinery with the rhythmic and self-sustaining process of an organism. It is an apparatus of ontological interrogation, positioned at the final, unstable boundary between the organic and the artifact. In “Macchina che respira”, the fundamental function of life -respiration- is translated into an industrial imperative, forcing the observer to confront the metallic structure not as a working machine, but as a living entity dedicated to the perpetual, rhythmic assertion of its own existence. The object exists at a perpetual threshold of sensory maximum, where the mechanical friction, the hydraulic sighs, and the erratic pulse of its operation form a complete and compelling language of industrial delirium.
Inspired by the machines that breathe, Lorenzo Abattoir and Simon Whetham collaborated on what could be described as an aural homage to Fogliati’s conceptual transformation. “Macchina che respira”, out now on Coherent States, was recorded in Torino in 2024, presenting itself as a formal thesis where the observation of the machine's life cycle becomes the center of the sound work; Both the sound and the oppressive atmosphere compel the recipient into an immediate confrontation with the work's internal logic, concluding in an involuntary commitment to the machine’s terrifying, yet beautiful, respiratory cycle.
The careful approach on creating these sound pieces rests on the harmonized interference of what makes both their sound so unique and recognizable; The sounds of the microphones, the hissing and the intensive, high-voltage degradation of Lorenzo Abattoir is connected in almost a mechanical sense with Simon Whetham’s hyper-focused environmental capture, forming a unique sound art piece. The work is divided into 10 tracks, whose titles -consisting of a single letter and number each- form a deliberately fractured spelling of the words "Lateral Breath". This coded message defines a mechanical metaphor for the expansion and contraction of the ribcage or diaphragm, serving as a spatial anchor essential to the kinetic function of The Machine itself. The titles themselves are thus transformed, acting as a direct extension of the conceptual essence of “Macchina che respira”.
Lorenzo Abattoir is a sound artist known for his work in mixing spiritual practices and unusual methods of audio processing. Based in Turin, he explores the boundaries between sound and noise, using breathing techniques, bodily sounds and different kinds of amplified objects as instruments. He has collaborated with Herman Kopp, Satori, Elisha Morningstar, among others. His work has been published in Planam, 4iB Records, Alien Passengers, Dinzu Artifacts and Tsss Tapes among others.
Simon Whetham is a self-proclaimed "old media artist". His work is concerned with the site-specificity of sound and ways of transducing it, reviving derelict technology and translating micro-acoustic environmental details into sonic art compositions and immersive installations. He is known for his extensive practices across challenging global locations, constantly responding to location and situation. His work has been published by Entr'acte, Unfathomless, Helen Scarsdale Agency, Auf Abwegen, Crónica and Misanthropic Agenda among many others.
