Christiana Kazakou

inArt

Medical Fields
Biology, Biomedical Science, Genetics, Neurosciences

Creative Forms
Conceptual art
Installation
Mixed media
Sculpture

Website / Blog
www.christianakazakou.com/

Places
London, UK

Christiana Kazakou is a multidisciplinary artist based in London. Her artistic practice explores the interconnectedness and open-ended dialogue between art and science by combining scientific concepts, laws and theories from different disciplines with arts practice.

Overall my work explores interconnectedness and the open-ended dialogue between art and science, by combining scientific concepts, laws and theories from different disciplines with an arts practice. Using free association to discover the mirroring of scientific theory and concept with social, formal and physical sciences; including mathematics, architecture, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, astronomy, astrometry and the philosophy of time & space. Both art and science require imagination and original thinking, a sense of inquiry and concern about human nature & society. Whilst science investigates how the world operates, in art this information is interpreted and expressed from a unique individual perspective. My interests lie in abstraction, curiosity and those complexities arising from the inter-relationship between science and art that have the ability to influence perceptions lurking beneath ‘known’ definitions.

”The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

Christiana Kazakou

Christina Kazakou is a member of RANDOM ORDER collective

ELECTRIC UNIVERSE ©Christiana Kazakou

THE REBIRTH OF DNA ©Christiana Kazakou

MAPPING INTERCONNECTEDNESS. Mixed Media Installation. Description: Science is the most interconnected and fast-changing of human activities now days. Science maps have the potential to guide our search for knowledge in the same way that is allowing us to navigate the world. This piece embodies a multi-disciplinary map that mirrors the territory of global inquiry between presence and absence. A universal jigsaw inspired by complexity science, dynamical systems and the chaos theory; representing the elemental power of how everything connects. All disciplines co-exist in an identical landscape, all parts of the system interact and inter depend since they occupy the same system; but how do we truly respond to those systems? Measuring the direction of the personal poles of exploration and the opposite poles of attraction, the compass shows us the destination of intellectual adventures and sonic journeys in our life span. To listen to the soundscape please click the following link: https://soundcloud.com/christiana-kazakou/mapping-interconnectedness ©Christiana Kazakou

NEUROELECTRICITY. Mixed Media Sculpture. Description: Following our visit to the Basal Ganglia Lab, the scientific knowledge and experimental approach of a collection of scientists inspired new methods of artistic interpretation and expression. In conversation with Andrew Sharott, Megan Dowie and Icnelia Huerta-Ocampo, the discovery and explanation of the use of electrophysiological and anatomical techniques in scientific process became part of my artistic research and inquiry. Neuroelectricity was born out of research that focuses on the recordings of neuronal activity from sites in the basal ganglia. It was fascinating to observe and learn how the data obtained from recording neurons in the striatum and globus pallidus can give new insights into how the brain works at the single-cell and network level. This piece aims to represent the voltage in our brains and consider the concept of electrical radiation of our souls. It takes a structure of neuro electric power that can influence our emotions and energies as well as our fire for knowledge and human understanding. For further information about the project please visit the following website: http://blog.nervousencounter.com/ ©Christiana Kazakou

ARCHITECTURE OF THE BRAIN. Site Specific Audience Participatory Performance. Description: Architecture of the brain is an interactive performance exploring interdisciplinary practices of performance, neuroscience of decision making and architecture. Is an experimental brain game, trying to connect elements from both arts and sciences. Inspired by labanotation, neuroscience and architecture this project will research, test and observe the reactions of the participatory audience in relation to sound, semiotics and movement. The process of interpretation through the body and space will explore how play can shape our brain, open our imagination and invigorate the soul through intuitive decisions and physical stimuli. A large choreographic movement map will be drawn onto the floor using an array of shapes. The map acts as a metaphor to the brain where the audience explores improvisational movement action; this takes the form of a performance journey through cognitive reaction. Semiotics and arrows will set the path for the participant audience while they create their narratives in the space based on their emotional & intellectual responses. ©Christiana Kazakou

DISTANT EVIDENCE. Mixed Media Painting. From planetary geology to the photogeologic mapping of the moon; maps figure prominently in exploration, including solar system exploration. This piece embodies scenes of extra-terrestrial environments in my attempt to create an illusive distant territory that challenges the boundaries of the real and the imaginary. Oscillating from observation to interpretation; at the end is there evidence? Regardless our effort to explain the universe, some answers will always remain distant… ©Christiana Kazakou [DISTANT EVIDENCE has been exhibited in 2013 at the New York Hall of Science in New York.]

CABINETS OF COSMIC WONDER. Mixed Media Installation. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The universe is defined by balancing and opposing forces. Chaos and cosmos; order and disorder, reality and illusion. This cosmic cabinet of curiosities creates a wireless communication between concepts related to electromagnetism, celestial cartography, nuclear radiation and stellar spectroscopy. An integration of static and dynamic fields; that augment the process of exploration through science. The project has been inspired by books from the Library’s astronomy collection, such as Observational Astronomy (D. Birney 1926), the Cambridge Star Atlas (Will Tirion, 2011) and Measuring the Universe (Kitty Ferguson, 2000), available from the Science Reading Room. ©Christiana Kazakou

DISPLACING IDENTITY. Kazakou Christiana in collaboration with Trinity Laban (Bengtsson, Rebecca; Maricich, Alexandra; Papaeleftheriadou, Natasa; Uhl, Michaela). Performance. ‘We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us’ Winston Churchill. The displacement between our inner psychological space and the external spatial world is frequently subjective. This project explores the connection of architecture, psychoanalysis and dance; concepts of construction and deconstruction of the personality, integration and disintegration, the real and the imaginary. ©Christiana Kazakou

Christiana Kazakou

BIO
Christiana Kazakou is a multidisciplinary arts practitioner based in London. During the last two years, she has participated in a number of projects blurring the boundaries of art and science. Her artistic practice explores interconnectedness and the open-ended dialogue between art and science by combining scientific concepts, laws and theories from different disciplines with an arts practice. Her work has been exhibited in a number of venues including Performance Space, GV Art, Arcola Theatre, The New York Hall of Science (New York), Old Fire Station Gallery (Oxford), British Library and Haber Space at Central Booking (New York). In 2013 she directed a performance project ‘Displacing Identity’ in collaboration with dancers from Trinity Laban. The project was designed to explore the connections between architecture, psychoanalysis and dance. She is also a member of the sound art collective ‘Random Order’, which has performed at the Royal Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, The art party conference and participated in projects like the Architecture Triennale in Lisbon. In 2014 they received a commission from Be Open Foundation for the Nomad Lab & Sounding Space Symposium, a collaborative sound art project at a sound portal. Her academic record includes Financial Economics (BSc), Arts Management (MA), Art & Science (MA) and Practical Journalism (Dip). For further information please see www.christianakazakou.com