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Video I made in order to study modern dance and brutalist architecture as part of my MA programme in Interior and Spatial Design.

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Modern Dance and Brutalist Architecture.

The National Theatre is ‘one of London’s best-known and most divisive Brutalist buildings’ (Mull, 2014) and was the initial site for my project. It is a building that houses performance, set design and its architecture and its dynamic Brutalist style divides views (Patterson, 2018). In one of my first experiments, I have used two spaces from the Νational Τheatre, the outdoor space next to the river, where each summer a river stage is set up and people can enjoy free live music as well as performances and the staircases in the interior spaces. I used the staircases since according to the architect Denys Lasdun, they were made with a sense of a ‘contraction’ feeling as one enters the enclosed space and a sense of ‘release’ as one exits (Patterson, 2018). I started the research for my project by conducting my own experiments with dancers and recorded their movements with the use of photography and film. The score used for the choreography was improvisation, contraction and release. Bringing together my first site and modern dance, I asked dancers to perform in the outdoor and indoor spaces of the National Theatre. The dancers were asked to improvise and to move in relation to the space and the geometries of the building.

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Research - Modern Dance

Understanding human movement

The idea to look at and research the modern dance movement and the idea of contraction and release came initially from a collaborative project with final year choreography students from the Middlesex University that I had the chance to participate in at the beginning of my MA course; it was this that has acted as the catalyst for my research and experimentation. Looking at modern dance was important for the development of my project since it helped me to better understand the connection between the body, performance and space and where the need to create new relationships between these has begun.

Together with the choreography student we explored movement in architecture for our collaborative project. We asked dancers to move slowly, to stop and fix certain postures and to stay still. The observation of this slow movement has been a very meditative and hypnotizing process and when I was looking outside at the window I also felt the same; the window looked still but then there were moments of sudden movement from cars, people, tree leaves etc. I recorded this image and projected it on the wall, next to the actual window. At the beginning the projection of the window looks like a still image but as one looks more carefully, he can observe that small movements are taking place. With that I wanted to create a relationship between what is happening on the outside and inside, the same relationship of movement and stillness. The dancers were moving slowly and their shadows were projected on the wall when the light fell on them. I also thought of using reflective materials that can be worn by the dancers and that will take the projectors light, distort it and spread it across the room.

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24h Collaborative project - Chelsea College of Arts

Dissemble

Looking at the word dissemble in our society we wanted to show how people wear masks and pretend to be someone else in order to be socially acceptable. By wearing layers, make up, nail polish etc we show another aspect of ourselves. Using fruits as a metaphor we wanted to show that although the thick protective skin the best, juiciest and tastiest part is in the inside. Therefore through this piece we wanted to express and promote the positive message of not being afraid to show and reveal our true selves.

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ATLAS - Interactive multimedia installation Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2016

In this really nice project I worked with the set designers Telis Karananos & Alexandra Siafkou as a set design assistant. 

I visualised the installation using Rhino3D and helped with the fabrication of the scene

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View from the Volksbuhne theater Berlin, Germany #fernsehturm #Berlin #volksbühne #rosaluxemburgplatz

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stations - Warsaw, Berlin & Budapest

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portfolio work

www.behance.net/Melissanthe

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The ‘Book of Life’ recently wrote a chapter about the work of Dieter Rams and his aim for simplicity. The whole chapter can be read here.

(Via Doenja Oogjes)

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Casa Vogue/ Thomas Bird

Set design for Casa Vogue magazine. 

Fabricated in London - Shot in Lisbon

While assisting Thomas Bird, I worked on this project which was inspired by the traditional blue Portuguese tiles. We designed, fabricated and painted giant flowers, a sailing boat and a grand piano amongst other interesting objects 

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landscapes 

in Denmark and Germany 

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rusty doors in the greek island of Naxos 

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REVOLT ATHENΣ 

Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2016

Athens: a city, a myth, a notion or the prima-donna of crisis?

Three performers on a stage-landscape of destruction and regeneration, attempt to reverse stereotypical images of Athens that are being reproduced worldwide. Against media reports, financialbreakdowns and tourist guides, REVOLT ATHENΣ constitutes an alternative English spoken "city guide" that tries to dig out thedramatic unconsciousness of its inhabitants.

worked for this project as a stage designer’s assistant

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weaving with natural materials 

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inspired by this onion