When we first heard about Pneumatit, we were both skeptical and fascinated. We wanted to experience it for ourselves. A week later, we went with Markus Sieber to a backyard on the company premises where an asphalted driveway and a concreted storage area lay before us. We had never consciously felt into a material before and tried to perceive how it affects us. So far, for example, we found wood appealing. And concrete rather unappealing, but we could still live with it without giving it much thought.
Now here we were standing on the concrete surface and within less than a minute, we could perceive a harsh emptiness. A burden that was particularly noticeable in our bones as if someone had hit them with a hammer or as if carrying a heavy stone on one’s head. We repeatedly felt the need to change our stance or shake our arms and stretch our shoulders to crack our bones. A weight was pressing us down, and beneath our feet there was an empty space. There was no connection with the ground beneath us. It also became more difficult to maintain connections with other people around us, feelings of fear and anger seemed more likely.
Asphalt had similar effects on emotional perception but affected the body differently. Standing on asphalt felt sticky and heavy, there was vibration similar to that of high-voltage lines or like when your leg falls asleep.
We kept switching between concrete and asphalt surfaces surprised at how clearly different they felt.
After this sensitization process, we went into an adjacent factory hall where the entire floor had been poured out using Pneumatit-concrete while loud machines rattled away in operation around us – yet despite all this noise around us – we instantly felt comfortable inside this hall. So much so that given a chance, we would have loved joining in the work right away and were curious about everything that was happening there. We could feel a connection again – with the people around us, with the environment and even with the ground beneath our feet. From this ground came a sense of being carried, held and strengthened, at the same time we felt lighter. The environment seemed friendly and benevolent, every last corner of this production hall felt like part of a whole. The feeling that arose towards people around us can simply be described as peace. We were moved to tears, we hadn’t expected this.
We left the hall feeling as if we had just been through a soothing massage treatment. It’s possible not to believe in Pneumatit until you’ve experienced it for yourself – then you don’t need to believe anymore because then you know it for sure! The crystalline quality that Pneumatit brings was something unknown in our lives so far, nor do we know where else such density could be found. For us, it is a new quality that creates great balance: radiating something which allows inner clarity, connectedness, strength, freedom creativity and tranquility to emerge.
We are building our house out of wood, insulating it with straw, plastering it with clay setting on concrete foundation: each material has its physical properties and capabilities. Now we see much more clearly the subtle properties, the atmosphere radiated by a material itself. Pneumatit-concrete has become a highly desirable construction material for us, bringing both structural as well as emotional benefits into our lives.