To ‘Hold In-Common’ in the Midst of Clouds’ Drift

Through an analysis of the video work, Cloud Studies (2020), by the multidisciplinary research agency Forensic Architecture, this article reflects on how the inherent relation of life to air has been endangered by toxicity. In particular, Drawing on Cloud Studies eight investigations on the pernicious effects of toxic clouds on people and ecosystems, this articles examines the connectedness of global atmospheres that air violation exposes. Central to the discussion is a consideration of the emotional as well as physical consequences of such violations, whereby breathing itself is turned into a means of oppression. To counteract what can be regarded as today's ‘politics of breathing’, we argue for a performative and relational response to such politics enacted through the breathe itself.