Variation 0 is a multimedia artwork by Ben McDonnell and Nemo Nonnenmacher as a part of Breathing Spaces.

Drawing on themes of temporary support, rhythm and instability, and the malleability of digital space, McDonnell and Nonnenmacher have created six Variations of the Breathing Spaces theme. Each artwork constructs a relationship between sound and image, questioning how they play a part in bridging the gap between virtual and ‘IRL’ (In Real Life).

Variation 0 depicts two interlocking 3D scans of the concrete, brutalist architecture at the Brunswick Centre in London. Specifically, the work focuses on ligatures that allow sections of the building to expand and contract, to breathe together. Freed from the constraints of physical space, sculptures in Variation 0 are only able to exist in a purely virtual environment.

The sound is a recording of two in and out breaths, each stretched to last the length of the video. Stretching the breaths creates two slow crescendos and reduces the breath to audible stutters and glitches, interacting with the video to emphasise the spatial, haptic quality of the piece. The work comprises over 120,000 individual points which make congruent forms that contract and expand over time.