Khalil Berro, born in Lenzburg, Switzerland, is a Swiss-Lebanese artist who lives and works between Zurich and Bedretto. His practice explores the driving forces and suffering at the core of the human condition, working at the edges of human authority—on the shores of radioactive lakes in Kazakhstan, in abandoned coal mines, and near disappearing glaciers.

His works oscillate between the highly technological and the dangerously rudimentary. His recent exhibitions include BREATHE at ETH Zurich (2024) and the Modern Art Museum Shanghai (2025), The Fires We Started at Casa Bedretto (2024), and Floral Assembly at Swiss Hanok, Seoul (2023).

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Lake Boehmer (37100006)

Lake Boehmer (37100006) by Khalil Berro is an aquatic sculpture inspired by the chemical composition of Lake Boehmer, located in Pecos County, Texas, in the heart of the Permian Basin—one of the most intensively exploited oil-producing regions. This lake, with its strikingly seductive turquoise waters, appears like an oasis in the middle of a desert landscape. Yet it is not a natural phenomenon: it results from the prolonged leakage of an abandoned oil well, whose outflows gradually formed this artificial body of water.

To create the work, the artist follows a rigorous scientific approach. The lake’s chemical composition was analyzed and documented in collaboration with a Texan limnologist, then faithfully recreated in a Swiss laboratory. The installation takes the form of a controlled aquatic environment, akin to an aquarium, transposing a toxic ecosystem into an exhibition space. This formal choice is significant: aquariums usually suggest a controlled, domesticated, and observable nature, even as they involve a profound transformation of living systems.

The work thus plays on a tension between appearance and reality. The image of an oasis evokes a place of life and refuge—a mirage, reminiscent of the near post-apocalyptic landscapes of the Permian Basin. But Lake Boehmer is in fact a sterile environment. Apart from occasional methane bubbles rising to the surface, no life survives there. Dead birds found along its shores testify to its toxicity and act as a silent warning. The landscape becomes a kind of mirage, revealing the invisible consequences of oil exploitation.

The title reinforces this critical dimension. The number 37100006 corresponds to the official identifier (API) of the well responsible for the leak, as recorded by the Railroad Commission of Texas—the body that regulates the oil and gas industry, as well as surface mining operations for coal and uranium in Texas. By incorporating this administrative data, Khalil Berro directly links the unsettling beauty of the work to real industrial and regulatory systems, highlighting the ambivalence of our relationship to natural resources and their exploitation.

BREATHE

BREATHE is a generative video work that explores the invisible flow of air on a global scale. Using real-time atmospheric data, it calculates the path of the air breathed by each visitor,

reconstructing its trajectory across different regions of the world. These calculations, carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich, reveal flows that are usually imperceptible.

Presented as part of the (re)connecting.earth Biennial (03), the work takes the form of a data display on two of the MIRE screens. Viewers discover, in real time, the paths taken by the air they breathe, city after city, region after region. This minimalist, almost discreet installation contrasts with the global scope of the phenomenon it makes visible: the air in our lungs can connect us to an oil well in Texas or a forest in Indonesia.

By revealing the origin and circulation of air, BREATHE transforms a daily, unconscious act—breathing—into an experience of planetary connection. Air becomes a vector of invisible connections between distant territories: the air that enters our lungs may have passed through industrial zones, tropical forests, or regions marked by resource extraction. The work thus highlights the interdependence of environments and human activities.

Beyond its scientific dimension, BREATHE offers a thoughtful reflection on our relationship with the world. It highlights the permeability of borders and the way environmental phenomena transcend geographical and political boundaries. By making visible what usually escapes our perception, Khalil Berro invites us to recognize our place within complex global systems, where every breath connects us across the globe.

BREATHE - Flag

This work by Khalil Berro offers a freeze-frame within the continuous flow of BREATHE, isolating a specific moment in the air’s journey to Geneva. Presented as a flag hoisted on a pole, it makes visible a fact that is usually imperceptible: “The air you breathe was in the Permian Basin 9 days and 14 hours ago.”

By extracting a single moment from this complex atmospheric journey, the work creates a subtle shift. Whereas the video BREATHE presents a dynamic, continuous visualization of global air circulation, the flag freezes a fragment of it, transforming it into a direct statement addressed to the viewer.

The installation, deliberately simple: a flagpole and a flag, contrasts with the geographical and political scope of the information it conveys. The Permian Basin, an iconic region for oil extraction in the United States, appears here as a possible source of the air we breathe in Geneva. This unexpected connection highlights the invisible interconnections between distant territories and the global circulations that pass through our bodies.

By distilling the complexity of the data into a single sentence, the work transforms scientific information into a sensory experience. It invites us to become aware of the profoundly relational nature of air and, more broadly, of our place within global environmental systems. Each breath thus becomes a point of contact with distant geographical, industrial, and ecological realities, revealing the permeability of borders and the intertwining of worlds.