Coal miners often took a canary down into the mines with them. When the level of toxic gasses became deadly the canary would die and the miners were alerted to the danger.

The Miners' Canary is a multi-media exhibition, the result of a collaboration between two artists and two scientists who address the subject of breathing in an interdisciplinary space between visual art and medical science.

The Miners' Canary coalesced gradually over a period of several years. During that time, the lives and work of the four participants crossed and re-crossed. The Miners' Canary project gradually took form at the trajectory of four intellectual and emotional engagements with the process of breathing.

Jack Butler worked as an artist in the field of medical research. He produced three-dimensional models exploring the development of the human lung before birth. Butler discussed his work with Dr. Hans Pastercamp, a research physician whose research focuses on diagnostic techniques for lung diseases. Lynda Mendella, a respiratory clinical nurse specialist, helped to devise methods of care for patients with long-term acute and chronic lung diseases. Working in the same Winnipeg medical community with Dr. Pastercamp, Lynda Mendella knew about his research.

Sheila Butler exhibited a painting titled Out of Breath. Lynda Mendella saw the exhibition and expressed interest in the depiction of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in this painting. Lynda told Sheila Butler about her clinical experiences with respiratory patients. Sheila responded with the story of the dream of her great-grandfather's death in a coal mine disaster.

The Miners' Canary was first exhibited at the Art Gallery of Windsor (Ontario) in the summer of 1996.

Hans Pastercamp's lung sounds can be heard and seen on the web at: