Julian Charrière's Breathe lets visitors inhale 2.4bn-year-old oxygen at Mona

At Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), artist Julian Charrière has unveiled Breathe, a permanent installation that allows guests to inhale oxygen derived from 2.4-billion-year-old iron ore. This ancient oxygen, sealed since the Great Oxidation Event, is released through a Hofmann apparatus located in an on-site laboratory. Visitors experience the installation individually, traversing a vault-like corridor into a cylindrical chamber. The iron ore was sourced from Australia's Pilbara region. This oxygen, untouched by human breath until now, will remain with each visitor until their passing. Breathe is part of Charrière's exhibition Hard Core, which runs from 6 June 2026 to 29 March 2027, showcasing works like Blue Fossil Entropic Stories, Not all Who Wander Are Lost, and Controlled Burn, all focusing on deep time and geology.