On The Air

Steven Connor breathes in and out and thinks about the air, that most overlooked essential of all our lives.

Air is more than a universal physical necessity: the ideas of air and breath are diffused through the poetry, rituals and symbolism of all cultures.

We not only live on air, we also subsist on the complex idea of air.

Contributions from medical historians, classicists, air-therapists, musicians and the sound of the air itself help explore three aspects of the air: its positive associations with power; its negative associations with corruption, disease and intoxication; and the emerging idea of the air as a medium or habitat.

On the Air

Air is more than a universal physical necessity: the ideas of air and breath are diffused through the poetry, rituals and symbolism of all cultures. We not only live on air, we also subsist on the complex idea of air.

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