sonic driving
Participatory Performance⎪Microtuin, Eindhoven⎪06/2022
The project Sonic Driving traverses personal experiences into a collective symphony, inviting participants to experience and practice connectedness through sound. In it, frequencies that can be felt in the body are channelled as a medium for synchronisation and co-regulation, reminiscent of ancient drumming practices. Using fingertip sensors, the participants' heart rates are captured and digitally converted into low-frequency sound, allowing them to hear and feel the pulse of themselves and others through individually assigned speakers. The beats are converged, turning the heart rhythms inside out across their inner and outer boundaries into a united track that invites a sense of connection and belonging on a troubled earth.
The project was developed in collaboration with Luigi Gjergjaj, Marko Milas and Robin Modjesch.
landscapes of sympoiesis
Video Performance⎪Loonse en Drunense Duinen⎪05/2021
Landscapes of Sympoiesis is an ongoing research that collects and archives performative strategies for engaging with the land beneath our feet. In the face of drastic climate change, the project aims to learn about new forms of coexistence with the land's inhabitants and to find belonging to a troubled Earth. It is a radical form of activism that calls for the land's restoration, remediation, and protection as we are drawn to the health of the earth's surface.
The project has emerged from the thesis, Towards Landscapes of Sympoises, and the video Landscapes of Sympoiesis - A Poetic Manifesto. You can find the video here.
Photo Credits: Mikela Koressi, Marica de Michele
hoover ritual
Video Performance⎪Online via Zoom⎪05/2020
The hoover ritual enhances meditation and yoga and motivates performing household activities such as cleaning.
The ritual begins with a meditation that suggests four different breathing techniques that can be selected on the vacuum cleaner. The fan then turns on and off to create a breathing rhythm that the participant can follow. After completing the breathing exercises, the user can carry the object on their back to fully explore the room and their body. After cleansing, the user can finish the ritual with another meditation or breathing exercise.
The project was developed in collaboration with Luigi Gjergjaj.
shapes of breath
Breathing Tools⎪DAE, Eindhoven⎪12/2019
The project Shapes of Breath suggests tactile objects with which one can playfully learn different breathing techniques by following the shapes of the tools through movement and touch.
Stressful situations and moments of pressure are part of our modern everyday life. These tools therefore offer strategies and techniques to cope with these situations more easily. These tools help users to learn which breathing techniques to use and when.
In addition, the forms and their applicability play with another important factor, because touch and movement, just like breathing, bring us back into our bodies.
deep breathing reminder
Technological Companion⎪DAE, Eindhoven⎪09/2019
The Deep Breathing Reminder is a technological companion designed to remind the user of the artifact to inhale deeply, as stress and anxiety can create a pattern of shortness of breath.
Sensors on a face piece thus detect the user‘s breath and send signals to the generator. If there is no deep breath perceived, water is poured into a bucket of dry ice. This triggers a reaction that produces smoke and reminds the user to take a deep breath.
This project was developed in collaboration with Francesca Tambussi, Benedetta Pompili and Kyungmin Park in a hackaton workshop led by Jesse Howard at the MAD Lab Eindhoven.
clay body lab
Participatory Performance⎪DAE, Eindhoven⎪12/2019
The Clay Body Lab is a space to interact with clay and the body to release stuck emotions of anger, fear and anxiety collectively while enhancing the community.
In the first stage of the ritual every participant works individually on a piece of clay recognizing what is present. Slowly the participants can interact with the clay by bringing their emotional state into being. This can mean, to throw the matter on the floor while screaming or crying out tears and putting it into the matter. It is also allowed to interact with each other, which can result in calming the other by massaging through rolling the clay on their bodies even though talking should be avoided. The second stage of the process is to bring together the clay and interact with it as a group. This can be everything from throwing the big mass, beating on it all together, or using the whole body to deform the clay. After that the group is collectively creating a scultupre out of the clay body.
The ritual was developed in collaboration with the participants Silvia Catarozzo, Eleonora Toniolo, Rebecca Schedler and Hannah Hertrich.
trauma bathtub
Installation & Performance⎪DAE, Eindhoven⎪10/2019
Trauma Bathtub is a performative ritual that brings the different phases of trauma therapy into the physical space. The ritual is divided into two phases, in the first phase, current problems are highlighted. This is done by expressing what is present through body language and with the help of three different materials; flour, oil and clay, which are placed in the bag at the same time. In the second phase, the person performing makes themselve naked and steps inside of the bag as well, dealing with the issues on a physical level.
Trauma therapy as practised in the Western realm often focuses on verbalising traumatic experiences. Especially body therapies or therapies based on ancient body practices are often not officially recognised and therefore not covered by health insurances. The performance aims to express the importance of body therapy practices and to convey appreciation for the body.
tree huggers
Installation & Performance⎪Eindhoven⎪11/2019
Tree Huggers was developed as part of a collaboration between the BioLab program of the Social Design Department at Design Academy Eindhoven and the Landpark Assissie, a residential facility for people with severe mental disabilities in Tilburg.
Visitors are rare at the Landpark, as many people living there have few or no relatives who come to look for them. On the other hand, it is challenging to get in touch with the residents as a guest, as some of the residents might be afraid or even aggressive towards strangers. Therefore, an interactive installation wants to bring together the residents and visitors of the park, to play, communicate and interact with each other through the act of hugging trees.
Soft pillows and fabric shapes were placed on trees to highlight the possibility of hugging and exploring the non-human beings together, without using words but body language. The installation and the event at the Landpark Assissie could not take place as planned due to COVID-19 measures in March 2021. Hence, the work was installed instead at the Anne Frankplansoen in Eindhoven and activated through a performance.
naphtha
Fashion Collection⎪Peter Hansen Sets, Berlin⎪11/2016
“There is a magic machine that sucks carbon out of the air, costs very little and builds itself. It’s called ... a tree. A tree is an example of a natural climate solution. Mangroves, peat bogs, jungles, marshes, sea beds, kelp forests, swamps, coral reefs, they take carbon out of the air and lock it away. Nature is a tool we can use to repair our broken climate. These natural climate solutions could make a massive difference. Pretty cool, right? But only if we also leave fossil fuels in the ground. “, Greta Thunberg
Naptha is a speculative fashion collection telling the story of a movement which resists the production of petroleum-based materials.
Naphtha was presented at the AMD NEXT.17 Exhibition & Fashion Show in collaboration with Social Ride, a social bicycle workshop for and with refugees. Find more here.
Photo Credits: Andreas Schreiner
Models: Nora & Niclas⎢Core Management
neuzeit sklaven
Music Video⎪Iwanson International School, Munich⎪05/2016
Neuzeit Sklaven reflects on the dynamics of manipulation through digital media to engage with consumerism and the system of capitalism. The creation of the different parts of the project aimed to deconstruct these patterns and offer an embodied way out of these dilemmas. Please find the music video here.
The project was developed for DANCE 2015, the 14th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of the City of Munich and within the framework of a collaboration between Dance Munich and AMD Academy of Fashion & Design Munich.
Dancers: Alessia Lazarides & Petter Elnerud
Production: Manuel Noll & Signal Audio Visual GmbH