AutopneumA was performed in the Autonomy Project. Autopneuma is a twist on the word ‘autonomy and refers to the control of one’s own breath, the elimination of medicines and alien inhalers that still give an emotional kick when I see or hear them.  Auto – to oneself. Pneuma – Breath or Spirit. The  jacket was embroidered specifically for the performance, The logo and backpatch plays on the visuals of metal band logos that I embroidered years ago in my teens. Backpatch embroidery was originally part of the canvas bag used in Souvenirs of the Overworld.

Review by Brian O’Connell on The Autonomy Project, in DRAFF. Net, May 2018

“The movement in AutoPneuma starts within the body, a highly controlled hyperventilation which took charge of the entire space. Hyperventilation is an obvious symptom of the desperation many of us have felt in moments where we lack control or autonomy, and I find Byrne’s deliberate self-control a defiant and highly optimistic gesture. From the first position, crouched in a denim jacket on a dusty floor, he rises and moves forward towards his audience, connected to the wall behind him by a mechanism of strings which will eventually divest him of his jacket. When this is taken off, he leaves it to rest in mid air, suspended by the mechanism and a precarious length of timber. As he moves, the room seems to reveal itself as if his gaze illuminates it bit by bit past where we normally look. His performance ends with another static moment, balanced mid-way up a casement window. An unsentimental performance, and yet highly charged in its resonances and its optimism.”