lucas muñoz builds delhi lung installation to emphasize poor air quality

lucas muñoz builds delhi lung installation to emphasize poor air quality
all images courtesy of luca munoz

the public art installation by lucas muñoz was developed for the city of new delhi during the month of january 2016. the spanish artist based in the netherlands, travelled to the city to construct the ‘delhi lung’ as a locally-sourced bamboo structure which held 21 domestic fans that drew the air and filtered it through the thin ‘muslin cotton’ fabric. for a month, the installation displayed the visible pollution particles during a record-year of toxicities in the city. new delhi’s air is not only contaminated due to its heavy traffic but also due to wood burning for household heat. it has also been well documented that a 12 year old child living in the city’s downtown atmosphere is equivalent to a heavy smoker’s lung. 

inside the installation are 21 fans circulating the air through

when invited to develop a piece to be exhibited on public space for a month, lucas munoz immediately decided to work on the air subject. he developed this machine in close collaboration with local craftsman and sourcing all the materials from community bazaars. ‘delhi lung’ worked as a printer, where the ink was the pollution particles in the air and the paper was the fabric. the 36 meter piece was marked with its geo-location and exposure time. after the installation’s use, every piece of material, including the fans and bamboo, were reused. the main objective of this installation was to create a visual witness of the city’s air pollution causing harm to its residents. lucas munoz will continue with these installations in other cities, to get prints of similar situations. since 2012, lucas muñoz works on his own from the netherlands where crafts pieces that magnify the problems surrounding society. using basic raw materials, his body of work includes a wide range of typologies that span from boats and speakers to chairs and lamps. check out our interview with lucas muñoz here. 

the pollution particles were trapped through the muslin cotton fabric

made from local sourced bamboo  the ‘delhi lung’ is 3500 x 3500 x 3000 mm high

the fabric is kept together using jute rope once completed, the 36 meter fabric became the art piececreator lucas muñoz connecting the fans the installation at night