ΒΕΕ-ΖΕΕ

PHOTODOTES: the making of

2012-01-26T21:11:00.004-06:00

PHOTODOTES: the making of from Zenovia Toloudi on Vimeo.

photodotes: collect - transfer - diffuse

2012-01-25T02:17:00.006-06:00

PHOTODOTES

2012-01-21T22:57:00.008-06:00

PHOTODOTES, a ‘machinic’ installation, explores the manipulation of natural and artificial light in space, architectured to perform in 3 stages: collecting, transferring and emitting light. The experimentation discusses phenomena related to lack of light, like the lack of vitamin D, depression, women’s cycle patterns irregularities, and work separation from exterior conditions. By augmenting the individual and collective perceptual mechanism, PHOTODOTES emphasizes how light’s relation to energy and the survival leads to well-being of people.

*PHOTODOTES is the plural form of the greek: φωτοδότης = giver of light, luminary

Project credits:
Design: Zenovia Toloudi
Research: Zenovia Toloudi, Ute Meta Bauer (MIT Art, Culture, and Technology), George Toloudis
Construction: Zenovia Toloudi, George Toloudis, Panagiotis Stamboulidis @ Stamboulidis Panagiotis Workshop in Alexandroupolis, Greece
Gallery Installation: Zenovia Toloudi, Dominic Tschoepe, Dimitris Papanikolaou
Special thanks to: Maria Toloudi, Yannis Stratakis, Theodoros Koukos, Marrikka Trotter, Jonathan Santos, Evelyn Rytz

The Garden Lab

2012-01-21T22:39:00.006-06:00

Join us for the opening reception of the GARDEN LAB! Thursday, January 26, from 6:30 - 7:30pm
Meet the Artists-in-Residence (Caitlin Berrigan, Andi Sutton, and Zenovia Toloudi) and learn about their projects.

"When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Garden Lab, an experimental project for the 2012 spring semester in the Brant Gallery. The aim for this initiative is to create a garden space and platform where all students and the community-at-large can engage in an open conversation about art, design, food, community, and the environment. The project examines these topics and concerns in experimental and investigative ways, while proposing creative and sustainable solutions and possibilities.

This initiative is not only to enrich students’ learning experience, but also to facilitate a collaborative milieu of growth and creativity. Through workshops, visiting artist projects, lectures and events students will be introduced to a variety of interdisciplinary practices to broaden the learning, making and understanding of art and design. Students will have an opportunity to participate in how-to grow, consume and forage for food in an enjoyable and sustainable practice. Through sharing and gardening, we hope to inspire students to play an active role as “citizen artists”.

This project is supported in part by Sustainable MassArt: Art and Design at the Intersection of the Environment, Social Justice, and Health, and the Studio Foundation Sustainability Committee. It is directed by Jonathan Santos and Evelyn Rydz.

Many Thanks to: Paul Dobbs, Rachel Resnik, Yamilah A Kenny, Christian H Restrepo, Scarlett Hoey, Lisa Tung, Darci Hanna, Gamalia Pharms, Kyle Brock, David Tames, Jamieson Wicks, Howie Larosee and Jane Marsching

Garden Lab: January 18 – May 7, 2012
Brant Gallery: South Hall, 3rd floor
Hours: Monday- Friday: 9:00 AM -6:30 PM
Contact: brantgallery@massart.edu
Online Resource: MassArt Library + Garden Lab
Accommodation: If you need a disability-related accommodation for a MassArt-sponsored event on campus, email Mercedes Evans at mercedes.evans@massart.edu at least two weeks prior to the program date.

More information at Brant Gallery at MassArt (click here)

+GardenLab

2012-01-18T12:09:00.006-06:00

Starting today and up until May 7th, my work will be exhibited at Brant Gallery at Mass Art in the exhibition Garden Lab, curated by Jonathan Santos and Evelyn Rytz.

happy 2012!

2012-01-18T12:01:00.003-06:00

The photo was taken at Panagiotis Stamboulidis workshop in Alexandroupolis, Greece where I was preparing my installation for Brant Gallery together with gtroza. Photos are coming! Stay tuned!

the oldest...

2011-12-14T22:37:00.003-06:00

...building in paris:

theatrum constructum

2011-12-14T21:33:00.002-06:00

hammocks, baskets, sheds and other craft

2011-12-14T20:32:00.000-06:00

port preservation

2011-12-14T20:24:00.001-06:00

patina

2011-12-14T20:13:00.003-06:00

patina is a word I first learnt from my grandpa. since then i love discovering it around. it was interesting to advice a student doing thesis on material decomposition, weathering, and abandoned structures lately.

patina (via Merriam-Webster dictionary)
pa·ti·na noun \pə-ˈtē-nə, ˈpa-tə-nə\
plural pa·ti·nas or pa·ti·nae

Definition of PATINA
1
a : a usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially (as by acids) and often valued aesthetically for its color
b : a surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age or use
2
: an appearance or aura that is derived from association, habit, or established character
3
: a superficial covering or exterior

Origin of PATINA
Italian, from Latin, shallow dish — more at paten
First Known Use: 1748

patina (via urban dictionary):
The term that antique appraisers and collectors use to describe rust or age on an old object to try to increase its value.

summer accessories

2011-12-12T05:22:00.000-06:00

artwork found at OTE, in Thessaloniki, Greece

blue spots

2011-12-11T02:15:00.006-06:00

white cover

2011-12-11T02:07:00.006-06:00

tanner fountain

2011-12-11T02:03:00.002-06:00

morning garden in

2011-12-11T02:01:00.001-06:00

growing

2011-12-11T01:33:00.005-06:00

The series of photos is taken during the period I was writing my dissertation. These beans stay alive only until its end. Now they are here to represent the process of preparing my installation for the Garden Lab exhibition that will take place between January to June at Mass Art. Stay tuned!

public-private baths

2011-12-07T16:12:00.007-06:00

An outdoor pool of Samothraki's thermal baths found on the foot of Saos mountain.

rose+cardamom tea

2011-12-02T15:03:00.003-06:00

PROTHESES

2011-12-01T17:02:00.001-06:00

I was excited to create this series of lectures as part of my thesis prep course at WIT during this fall.

240

2011-11-24T20:32:00.003-06:00

240: an architect's psychosis
a 12' movie by haris donias
Nov 28 6pm 109 Harvard GSD

It's late at night. An architect still works at his office and places an order over the phone.
There is a chance that he is being persecuted.
The delivery man arrives. Will he leave?
Could the delivery man be one of the people that follow him?
Is it all a big coincidence?

on processes and systems

2011-11-20T02:11:00.004-06:00

"During his formative years in Germany, he was a member of Zero (an international group of artist, active ca. 1957-1966). This group was held together with common motivations: the longing to re-harmonize man and nature and to restore art's metaphysical dimension. They sought to organize the pictorial surface without using traditional devices.
Although their methods differed greatly, most of the work was monochromatic, geometric, kinetic, and gestural. But most of all they used nontraditional materials such as industrial materials, fire and water, light, and kinetic effects. The influence of the Zero group and the materials they used is clear in Haacke's early work from his paintings that allude to movement and expression to his early installations that are formally minimal and use earthly elements as materials.
These early installations focused on systems and processes. Condensation Cube (1963–65) embodies a physical occurrence, of the condensation cycle, in real time. Some of the themes in these works from the 1960s include the interactions of physical and biological systems, living animals, plants, and the states of water and the wind. He also made forays into Land Art, but by the end of the 1960s his art had found a more specific focus." [via Wikipedia]

lightballet

2011-11-20T02:01:00.002-06:00

Lightballet by Otto Piene now @ LIST MIT (photos found through LIST)

56 experimental light-machines

2011-11-19T21:23:00.005-06:00

These are the 56 light-machines we have created in the zitofos workshop at Alexandroupolis this summer. The work I will be showing at MassArt is based on these experimentations and the research I do at MIT Art, Culture, + Technology. Stay tuned!

measuring

2011-11-19T18:24:00.001-06:00

for the upcoming installation @ Brant Gallery, MassArt!

occupy time

2011-11-18T12:26:00.009-06:00

@harvard yard

Pecha Kucha 25

2011-11-14T21:11:00.000-06:00

@ club oberon

talk @ MIT

2011-11-13T21:06:00.001-06:00

I was invited to present my work at MIT Art, Culture, & Technology along with Nomeda Urbonas. The talk is about on spatial installations/ interventions, taste (and preferences, likes and needs), role of audience (interactivity), and the hidden properties of space (real-artificial).

scale + risk

2011-10-07T17:28:00.001-05:00

0801 50 feet cantilever from churtichaga + quadra-salcedo on Vimeo.

Today @ MIT: CONSIDERING CITIES: TIME, SIZE, ENVIRONMENT

spatial food experiment: the video

2011-10-04T19:09:00.002-05:00

Untitled from mariela alvarez on Vimeo.

Last year's 3 states of hors d'oeuvres installationLab @ Harvard! videography and editing by Sauli Pillay.

the divine comedy

2011-10-04T19:00:00.001-05:00

on ecological thinking

2011-10-04T18:49:00.002-05:00

PROTO/E/CO/LOGICS/Day01 - Sanford Kwinter: Ecological Thinking from MLAUS - Mediterranean Laboratory on Vimeo.

via Andrew Zientek

threshold

2011-09-20T12:18:00.001-05:00

the cages

2011-09-20T12:17:00.002-05:00

pink landscape

2011-09-20T12:13:00.001-05:00

pink-purple water and sky

meeting

2011-09-18T21:04:00.003-05:00

doctoral students and friends meeting at the beach

cities of mussels

2011-09-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

citizens

2011-09-18T19:33:00.005-05:00

edible soil [almost]

2011-09-18T19:27:00.003-05:00

mixed-color sand after being digged in order to find mussels and other living organisms. photos taken in a beach near capecod.

35 million years old

2011-09-18T14:23:00.006-05:00

petrified forest of evros, more than 35 million years old. the biggest in greece, and the biggest found in the area south of the alpes.the photos show:
a. a 19-meter-long trunk of an oak tree
b. a fern
c. a leaf of an ancestral oak tree
d. a leaf of cinnamon family
*all photos collected by maria toloudi

the bird

2011-09-18T14:17:00.004-05:00

the bird and the boat, and few more things.
*photo taken by gtroza

space without [the] people

2011-09-18T14:03:00.004-05:00

this is a very personal post, but the thoughts may be useful in architectural discourse too, especially on issues regarding space, time and memory. these photos depict, to some extend, the place where I grew up (and still continue to) in alexandroupolis. it is the house of my grandparents. i observe the power of space to bring back the people who has gone. in fact, the moment the people go, it is sad to be in the space. after a period it may be less sad; you wanna go there and look for them.

a dream came true

2011-09-10T13:47:00.003-05:00

being part of MIT has been a desire since long time ago. the cube at MIT was love at first sight. the last 4 years the cube was loaded with many interesting educational and personal moments. now i am happy to have my office in there as a research affiliate at art, culture, and technology!

visual debate

2011-09-10T13:35:00.003-05:00

Porphyry of Tyros, famous for his Introduction to Categories (Isagoge), is here depicted (right man) in an imaginary debate with Averroes. Image found in Wikipedia. Thank you gtroza for pointing out Porphyry's work for my doctoral research and thank you WIT for reminding me about him.

the noun project

2011-09-10T12:22:00.005-05:00

i recently found this categorization of symbols in the website of WIT where I teach this semester. although the creativity of symbols does not always meet the level of the 2x4 iit symbols for students activities. it is a very cool documentation for many of the symbols that exist in the globe. the more information for the noun project in the noun project website. here you can find and download the symbols. all images are taken from the noun project website.

light blue

2011-09-05T20:24:00.000-05:00

*photos taken by maria toloudi in the alexandroupolis sea

zitofos

2011-08-13T18:49:00.003-05:00

experiments under development currently at alexandroupolis

her favorite

2011-08-13T10:29:00.003-05:00

for her

2011-08-13T10:27:00.001-05:00

bikers' visual identity_I

2011-08-02T07:25:00.006-05:00

LOGO CONCEPT:

Figure 01. Logo Inspiration. The light house and the bikers’ movement are combined to create the logo.

Figure 02. Logo Development: The linearity of the lighthouse is similar to the linear movement of the bikers. The rhythmical windows match the human figures. The multiple circles may represent the multiple wheels of the bikers or the dynamic movement of one biker.
THE LOGO:

Figure 03.The Logo.
COLOR VARIATIONS:

Figure 04. Color Variations of basic logo. The biker can choose her own color for the logo.
*I was asked to design the visual identity for a group of bikers from Alexandroupolis. The work you see in this post is part of my work. Click the following links to see other parts: I, II, III, IV.

bikers' visual identity_II

2011-08-02T07:24:00.012-05:00

“SKETCHY” LINE:

Figure 05. Color Variations of basic logo on a rough “sketchy” movement line.

Figure 06. More color Variations of basic logo on a rough “sketchy” movement line.
SKETCHY STYLE (All lines):

Figure 08. Logo in sketchy style (both movement and bikers lines are rough).

Figure 09. Color variations of the sketchy logo.

Figure 10. More color variations of the sketchy logo.

*I was asked to design the visual identity for a group of bikers from Alexandroupolis. The work you see in this post is part of my work. Click the following links to see other parts: I, II, III, IV.

bikers' visual identity_III

2011-08-02T07:24:00.011-05:00

LETTERING CONCEPT (Logo short version):

Figure 11. Lettering concept. The movement line of continuous circles matches the lettering/ logo short version that consists of the two first letters of group’s name (p+a).
LETTERING:

Figure 12. Lettering.
COLOR VARIATIONS:

Figure 13. Color variations of the lettering.

*I was asked to design the visual identity for a group of bikers from Alexandroupolis. The work you see in this post is part of my work. Click the following links to see other parts: I, II, III, IV."

bikers' visual identity_IV

2011-08-01T14:46:00.025-05:00

IN CONTEXT:

Figure 13. Front side of a white T-shirt.

Figure 14. Back side of a white T-shirt.

Figure 15. Fluorescent logo printed on black clothes.

Figure 16. Logo printed on a fabric bag.

Figure 17. Fluorescent logo printed on a fabric bag.

Figure 18. Transpaernt sticker with the logo for bike use.

Figure 19. Transparent sticker with the logo for bike use.

*I was asked to design the visual identity for a group of bikers from Alexandroupolis. The work you see in this post is part of my work. Click the following links to see other parts: I, II, III, IV.

open market

2011-07-31T20:05:00.000-05:00

*photos taken by maria toloudi @alexandroupolis

half an hour

2011-07-31T11:13:00.004-05:00

how things change: these two photos were taken at alexandroupolis on april 11th. there was half an hour between the two. all credits for this post to maria toloudi.

the museum of science...

2011-07-31T09:49:00.002-05:00

...is not only dinosaurs and stuff.
*photo taken by maria toloudi

almost

2011-07-29T10:26:00.005-05:00

*stickyak made by dimitris papanikolaou at mit medialab, yellow double kayak can be found at the boston river. all photos taken by DZLAB.

small apple

2011-07-28T03:51:00.000-05:00

small apple was found at gloucester and brought to boston. all photos taken by DZLAB.

baking MCUS

2011-07-28T02:51:00.000-05:00

creative summer days and nights at DZLAB

crafternoon: electronic kite

2011-07-28T02:48:00.001-05:00

@medialab, high-low tech group

medialab kite

2011-07-28T02:35:00.010-05:00

take-away medialab kite

2011-07-28T02:32:00.003-05:00

lego heart

2011-07-23T16:23:00.001-05:00

lego heart dedicated to maria who has her birthday today! =]

tides: low and lower

2011-07-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

photos were taken on July 4th, 2011 around 4 pm at the harbor beach when its waters would start falling. the beach becomes very beautiful as the tides create an abstract, empty landscape contradictory to the crowdy sandy beach. new activities pop up right at the in-between zone. the last photo [below] shows the bridge entrance to the beach earlier the day [around 2:20pm] where the waters were at their highest moment [two high and two low moments per day]. and of course one can see the super-crowd. more details about the tides, one can find at the chart [click here]:

MCUS light experiment: 24h

2011-07-22T23:35:00.011-05:00

start:

next photo: 12:07 [noon]

next photo: 14:42

next photo: 16:32

next photo: 16:55

next photo: 17:53

next photo: 20:35

next photo: 01:33

next photo: 01:35 [fully dark]

The MCUS light experiment started at 4pm on Monday July 18th and ended at 4pm on Tuesday next day.The experiment took part in a cycle of 24h at DZLAB indoors, having mostly indirect sunlight during the day and some artificial light during the night. I took a photo of MCUS every approximately half an hour in order to map out the different light and shadows conditions.
I selected the most representative "extreme" scenarios that depict the changes. For this blog post, I presented them from morning to night sequence, instead of [Monday] afternoon to [Tuesday] afternoon. MCUS leaves would harvest energy from the sun during the day [even without being directly exposed to sunlight] and would produce it as light back to the space at night.
Next experimentation on MCUS and light would be in a larger [in terms of number of leaves] instance of MCUS at direct sunlight.
Stay tuned.

open office

2011-07-20T21:15:00.002-05:00

i finally found a spot where i can work outside with my computer, under an umbrella. this is in the patio of the cambridge public library. next to the beloved tennis court and DZLAB.

approaching the divine

2011-07-17T21:35:00.007-05:00

This post's title "approaching the divine" refers to "The Divine Comedy" exhibition. "Cloud City" project exhibited at Carpenter Center belongs to thomas saraceno, one of the 3 artists featured in the exhibition. The Divine Comedy exhibition was curated by the architectural theorist, and also my thesis advisor Sanford Kwinter.

MCUS light study

2011-07-17T15:58:00.003-05:00

BEE-ZEE starts MCUS IV to emphasize the need of MCUS energy harvesting. These photos depict the capturing of light within a cycle of 24 hours. Previous attempt to address light/ energy interactivity occured at MCUS III. At the last photo, as gtroza would say, one can see that finally a use was found for that french box sitting in my storage for years!

Z

2011-07-12T02:44:00.008-05:00

some appetizers of the new z website! for more, please check out zenovia.eu

new!

2011-06-30T17:35:00.002-05:00

bee-zee is about to launch the hedgehog project!

stay in touch to follow the adventures of centimeter,the hedgehog!
a DZLAB production

mussels moves and forms

2011-06-27T14:38:00.005-05:00

Credits: Monique de Jager, Franz J. Weissing, Peter M. J. Herman, Bart A. Nolet

Credits: Van de Koppel, J., Gascoigne, J.C., Theraulaz, G., Rietkerk, M., Mooij W.M., & Herman, P.M.J. 2008 Experimental evidence for spatial self-organization and its emergent effects in mussel beds. Science 322:739-742.

videos were shown at the NECSI conference on complex systems as part of the presentation of Monique de Jager.

++

2011-06-26T11:43:00.002-05:00

*photo taken by sophie toloudi in Germany

soufli

2011-06-23T16:19:00.000-05:00

*photos taken by maria toloudi

on chocolate and happiness

2011-06-21T09:50:00.005-05:00

*photos taken by DZLAB

other shadows

2011-06-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

guests

2011-06-19T17:59:00.008-05:00

In his recent talk at Harvard (Fall 2010), Krzysztof Wodiczko has defined the immigrants as prophets, angels, and philosophers. He considers them as a way to interrupt history. A question such "where are you from?" is irrelevant. Why should we define oneself from geography? The following questions emerge "how do you know I am coming from one place? why don't you ask which where are you from? why don't you ask what I am doing? where I am from its a question that i am afraid to ask myself.
I am in between."
Guests installation, exhibited at the Polish Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2009, is one of my favorites Krzysztof Wodiczko's installations. "The protagonists of Krzysztof Wodiczko’s projection are immigrants, people who, not being ‘at home’, remain ‘eternal guests’."
*photos of Guests installation are taken from here (click).

lonely MIT man

2011-06-19T13:14:00.006-05:00

*photos taken by DZLAB at MIT "WE" sculpture by Jaume Plensa. more work from Jaume Plensa is here.

the graduation roses

2011-06-18T00:22:00.004-05:00

*given by Rania Ghosn

the inlove roses

2011-06-18T00:12:00.000-05:00

before mac

2011-06-16T18:12:00.004-05:00

*woodberry poetry room designed by Alvar Aalto and found at Harvard Lamont Library

poesis

2011-06-16T18:08:00.002-05:00

*woodberry poetry room designed by Alvar Aalto and found at Harvard Lamont Library

woodberry poetry room

2011-06-16T17:57:00.006-05:00

*woodberry poetry room designed by Alvar Aalto and found at Harvard Lamont Library

my favorite private public room

2011-06-16T03:55:00.004-05:00

with a writer inside:

* room found at Harvard Lamont library

beach architecture

2011-06-16T03:47:00.002-05:00

one happy pyramid

2011-06-16T03:43:00.003-05:00

or beach architecture (too)

new england beach

2011-06-16T03:37:00.003-05:00

*photos taken by DZLAB at cape cod

hybrid vehicle

2011-06-14T00:43:00.002-05:00

*photos taken by DZLAB at lake maggiore

magic pause

2011-06-14T00:25:00.004-05:00

*photos taken by DZLAB at lake maggiore

ice-water is...

2011-06-13T23:40:00.001-05:00

...an(other) addiction

*this photo is taken by Dimitris Papanikolaou

the divine water

2011-06-13T23:20:00.005-05:00

bird's eye view:

plan view:

photos taken by DZLAB at The Divine Comedy exhibition at Harvard GSD

in loom

2011-06-08T14:35:00.003-05:00

my sister's piece of art. credits: sophia toloudi

The Hooding

2011-05-30T17:39:00.003-05:00

via gtroza

PK 24

2011-05-30T17:29:00.001-05:00

20x20 Talks by:

* Andrew Payne, Harvard GSD
* Chelsea Kelley, Evon Calabrese, Spencer Culhane, MassArt Solar Decathlon
* Christopher Harting, Christopher Harting Studio
* David Lakatos, MIT Media Lab
* Ellen Godena
* Julie Chen, "DJ Flack" Tony Flackett, Beat Research, MassArt
* Matt Trimble, RADLAB Inc
* Mike Swartz, Upstatement
* Paul Vincent Reiss, Artaic

Doors at 6pm, 20x20 talks at 6:45pm.

Partners:
Common Boston
Klein Dytham
PechaKucha
Upstatement

b-z at writing cities

2011-05-21T18:04:00.000-05:00

* screen captures from b-z paper "From Taxonomy to Folksonmy" presented and discussed at Writing Cities 2011: Distance and Cities: where do we stand? at London London School of Economics between 19-21 May 2011.

defense

2011-04-26T10:10:00.001-05:00

*photos taken by Dimitris Papanikolaou during my DDes Thesis Defense

defense: placeholder

2011-04-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

* this photo is taken by Evangelos Kotsioris

all are welcome!

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

403 - forbidden

2011-04-21T18:11:00.001-05:00

scary, when it happens. problem solved by gtroza. picanico is up and running! feel free to play!

PICANICO demo

2011-03-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

PICANICO demo from Zenovia Toloudi on Vimeo.

grandma, I love you!

2011-03-17T18:05:00.002-05:00

*photo by gtroza
**original title: grandma, i <3 you!