Air is not just air

Can you draw air?

We study air with children on a scout excursion. As we breathe, we are in exchange with a multispecies world rich with microbes. Thus, air can be thought of as a multispecies contact zone (Haraway, 2008). A child’s body has no clear boundaries, and it is not separate from the rest of nature. A child’s body is originally a microbial ecosystem in exchange with other ecosystems, and breathing is an example of this.

We discuss with the children about what we actually are breathing when we breathe air. I tell the children how air is full of tiny creatures, microbes and fungi. Moreover, there are loads of other substances in air: fibres, pollen, spores, toxins and other chemicals, scale, dead cells, sounds, radio waves, light rays, and moisture. 

Through breathing, we connect to not only living nonhuman bodies, but to complex multispecies politics. What do different bodies receive from or release to the contact zones of air? Tuure Tammi (2023) has done research on mold schools and shown that when we are talking about contaminated indoor air, this is a question that may matter for children in many ways.

Can you draw air?