‘Clay Breath’ by Gemma Luz Bosch: Listening to the Voice of Mother Earth

Gemma Luz Bosch is a Spanish sound artist that has been creating a series of Clay Breath instruments. Clay Breath is part of an ongoing research where she creates hollow clay sculptures filled with water to allow it to behave like a musical instrument. Luz Bosch takes the pieces out to different spots in nature, such as parks, beaches, rivers, and mountains, to allow Mother Nature to be a musician. 

To create sounds, the wind will have to pass through each clay sculpture, figuratively utilizing Mother Nature’s breath to play music. Clay Breath allows Luz Bosch to give voice to the voiceless Mother Nature, an act which helps to foster her audiences’ kinship with the planet. So that they can feel both her joys and pains, empathize with her, and push for her conservation and preservation. This is why Clay Breath by Gemma Luz Bosch is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Life on Land, Life Below Water, and Climate Action.

A particularly interesting element in the project is how the water that Luz Bosch adds to each piece will slowly but steadily eat away the clay sculpture. “The process is unpredictable and it lives its own life. The temporality of this work appeals to me, the clay melts in the water, decays (vanishes),” explains Luz Bosch about the piece. Eventually, each Clay Breath piece will disintegrate, returning to its original loose dirt form as all living beings eventually die and degrade back into the Earth.

Each Clay Breath comes with its own lifecycle. The project requires Luz Bosch or trained audience members to create new Clay Breath sculptures, to continue the work of mediating Mother Earth with general audiences. Here, Clay Breath as a project has become a sort of translation tool, one that helps people connect with the planet on a deeper level.

The 2023 climate change key facts, as compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) chart, show that today, almost half of the world’s population (3.6 billion people) live in areas that are already susceptible to climate change impacts. The report also estimated that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause approximately 250,000 deaths a year, with primary health concerns being nutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat strokes. This is why, as Clay Breath suggest, now, more than ever, it is important to listen to Mother Earth and understand how humanity can do better.

By using hollow clay sculptures to create music with the help of winds, Clay Breath by Gemma Luz Bosch fosters a profound connection between her audiences and the planet. The temporality and lifecycle of each piece also emphasize the delicate and transient nature of the environment, urging viewers to empathize and advocate for its preservation.

 Find out more about Clay Breath by Gemma Luz Bosch and their other initiatives by checking their Instagram on @gemmaluzbosch.