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Bold Constructions

The formation of an applied aesthetics through artistic intervention
is an idea which concerns a great many artists today. Starting
from the teachings of Bauhaus about an art inextricably tied
to life and up to the current view of an open process
that extends the limits of creativity beyond the established fields
of art, artistic activity today touches on many areas.
Overcoming the inhibitions of an obsolete approach to art
as "complete in itself," many famous artists have long contributed
to the applied arts and thus expressed their opposition
to the alienating uniformity brought about by consumerism.
And if most of these proposals by artists such as Dali, Picasso,
Calder, Vasarely and Matta never made it to mass production,
but remained as quaint industrial designs produced in limited numbers,
it is mostly because of absence of the appropriate industrial infrastructure.
Bringing together all these experiences from the past, the attempt
for a harmonious cooperation between art and technology has been taken
up once again, but this time on a new basis. Next to the mainstream
industry, which is always cautious in adopting new trends, smaller industrial
concerns are being set up by groups of artists and architects whose work
promotes an unconventional aesthetic. It is no accident that the post-modern
art movement went immediately into the familiar environment of daily life
and found its practical expression in today's furniture, lighting and utilitarian
objects and, most importantly, in a whole new approach to interior design.
It is also no accident that post-modern design emerged virtually
simultaneously throughout Europe: in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy,
with the famous Memphis and Nova Alchimia groups, but also in Greece
with Studio Metaplasi. The main aim of all these groups, which were
organized on a contemporary industrial basis, was to break down
the aesthetic monopolies and expand the artistic consciousness.
Promoting ideas whose associations lead to bold combinations of different
art codes, post-modern design currently represents the most advanced
approach to decoration, linking the history of yesterday and the visions
of tomorrow in imaginative constructions. One might well wonder how
Greece, with its non-existent infrastructure in contemporary design,
finds itself on a level with countries with a huge tradition in this area.
The answer comes from the two founders of Studio Metaplasi,
Nikos Zouboulis and Titsa Grekou, whose artistic work had always involved
space, constructions and the technological exploration of various materials.
Artists with a long track record in the fields of sculpture, performance
and experimental research, Nikos Zouboulis and Titsa Grekou have always
treated their work as an open process that can lead to many different paths.