Research Catalogue

Performance Collector of Dreams Finding a goldfish to tell the wish Porto, Fonte dos Aliados – Public space 14.06.2025 18:30-19:00 Performance duration: 30 minutes Objects: gold tape, 10 gold ballons Photography: Camilla Formiconi

Islington studio flat 4, at 14 Barnsbury Road, London, 2022, privately rented. Interior design and styling, as art installation. Looted, 2024. Investigatory research with artworks, 2023-24. Interactive research blog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loot_(magazine) My personal belongings were still at the property for two months, after I left on 27 March 2024 and was asked to collect them by 3 or 4 April from Woolwich. After I left, the landlords moved in two or three under aged, who I have never met, so that they pretend to be my daughters. Subsequently, they must have been 'removing' them one by one over the last few months and until October 2024. The company behind 14 Barnsbury Road was deemed illegal through the courts, on 22 April, 2024, shortly after I was forced to leave at the end of March. The maintenance employed many Polish citizens, all dressed in black with black caps, adopting the XRW supporters' fashion code. The household of tenants was mixed and multicultural, but mainly British natives, with the exception of a couple from Hong-Kong, an American citizen, and myself, a naturalised British citizen, originally from Greece. Twenty-one (20+1) digital photographs of the studio, for twenty (20) missing Albanian and of Albanian ethnicity, non-EU immigrants; as well as one (1) missing Italian citizen. Golden Dawn has taken responsibility. The twenty-one confirmed persons, whose details got stolen were abducted by mainly Golden Dawn and, secondarily, the NRM; they are deceased. A new 2025 addition of one (1) more fake passport, Greek, of a woman of Greek citizenship abducted, most likely in the US, circa 2022: making it to a total of twenty-two (22). Finally, a fake Greek passport in my.artistic name, Betty Nigianni, for a teenager, was found in 2025. This last fake gives a total of twenty-three (23). Twenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) photographs, including two (2) plus one (1) of myself: NOT a missing person, from the 2022-2023 period in the eventually looted, in spring 2024, Islington studio. Two (2), plus one (1) targeted cultural producers: the anti-fascist Greek musician, Pavlos Fyssas, aka Killah P. (domestic); the French/Belgian filmmaker of Jewish origins, Chantal Akerman (global), who lived and worked in France, as well as the US, and whose personal details, specifically her life insurance policy and her medical file, got stolen in connection with the case, can be added to the toll of two (2) deceased. My personal details, name known as and artistic name, as well as numbers connected to my personal details, were stolen, too, while I (post-global) was targeted as a cultural producer, an artist and former academic. Was I going to be the third victim? Golden Dawn were originally pagans, drawing from the ancient Greek mythology and ritualistic practices, including human sacrifice. The visual imagery and the art included in the photographs is influenced by the marketing and advertising industry; I brushed shoulders briefly with students in the creative industries teaching at the Winchester School of Art. I used this an ironic commentary on Golden Dawn trying unsuccessfully to create a brand through propaganda, not political marketing. The art world has been traditionally male-dominated. This has not changed dramatically in contemporary art. Female artists have sometimes adopted male attitudes, or personas, to break into the art scene; see Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin from the YBA movement. I hold the view that art is not gendered, that there is no art for women or so-called women's art. Good art transcends such categories, tapping into more universal experiences. Saying this, I would like to quote Nancy Spero, who doesn't crudely distinguish between male and female art, as follows:"What if the default gender for 'artist' were female? What if, when we looked at a work by a woman, we said to ourselves, "That is art," and when we looked at a work by a man, we automatically identified it in our minds as 'men's art'?" In 1999, I wrote a long essay about the architectural uncanny, which I submitted as my graduation thesis for my first MA in architectural theory. I called it "Space as a 'Bad' Object: A criminal investigation on the notion of space". I got inspiration from detective novels and real-life crime stories. The long essay was about the role of architectural space in crime. It was unsupervised until submission: I received a distinction by a Bartlett staff member. I took the digital photographs in conceptual adherence with that essay. I was a postgraduate philosophy student 9/2017-11/2019 at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. In this exposition, I include new photographs from a series of digital photography called "Forensics", taken with my mobile phone, after I was forced to leave the Islington property I was renting, on 27 March 2024. I gave the photography series that name, because it has served the purpose of investigating, recording and tracking a crime, for which architectural space, such as private rentals, has been used. For Chris, my former neighbour, who was suddenly transferred by his employer, from London, where his daughter lives, to somewhere outside of London; and for Lawrence, a second generation immigrant from Nigeria, whose temporary post was prematurely terminated, though he was planning to return to his legal studies. And for Ali. And for Oliver, also my former neighbour. In memory of Howard, also a tenant at Bellview, and former neighbour. To all those who don't just "play" the cultural and racial diversity clause; they don't just rely on identity politics, because the class problem has not been resolved for them, either. Saying this, the UK must still be scoring high on racism, especially for people of African descent. A Nigerian was among the Golden Dawn victims of assassination in Greece. I was listening frequently to Massive Attack, a British trip-hop band, when I was living in Islington. Sophie Calle is a French writer and photographer, working on themes of identity, intimacy and everyday existence. Her work is partly inspired by the detective fiction genre.

GOON In 2023, at the age of 28, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. This life-altering event led me to take a closer look at my sexual desire, question my relationship with my genitals, and rethink how I perceive my gender identity. Today, as I navigate a healing period, I seek to explore sensuality as a space of resistance and emancipation. GOON is an attempt to free myself from the shame surrounding (my) queer sexualities. GOON is a research performance inviting the audience to look up close at the way they see and seek pleasure. With a choreographic approach, I am researching queer eroticism as a place of joy. Ignoring the constraints of sexual norms, this exploration focuses on shaping a body that is both playful and desired, despite its apparent dirtiness.

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2022 MA Interior Architecture (INSIDE) The most valued value of architecture, houses, interiors today is on an aesthetic level: we appreciate what we see. That can be the shape of a building or the material used. What is missing in the discourse on (interior) architecture are the other senses while they might have more impact on the users.  I find myself adding this extra step in the process of designing a space based on the user experience. While we now look at the space with hygiene and durability in mind, I wonder how to bring along this sensations into the experience of space. And how this step can provide a comforting, healing or stimulating environment.  With a series of sense enhancing objects I would like to reintroduce tactility to spaces where there is a demand for tactility through texture, touch and sensations. Choice of materials will influence how a space is experienced which in turn could affect how users deal with their emotions. As a designer, I feel the urge to address this emphasis of material choice and in this way contribute to a sensorially fulfilling experience for the user and add this extra layer of comfort/support through an exploration of materials and textures. 

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023 MA Interior and Architecture The emergence of the internet and smartphones has transformed communication and human relationships, expanding the range of communication and diminishing the importance of time and space. However, despite the increase in the number of relationships, social problems caused by loneliness and isolation are also on the rise, and people now tend to prefer personal space. This phenomenon raises important questions about the changing meaning and value of relationships in modern society, as well as the role of spatial design in addressing these challenges. This project aims to understand the desires of modern people regarding relationships from a spatial perspective, given the increasing number of one-person households and the issue of loneliness. Especially, this project explored the sensory aspect of communication through 'spatial experimentation' which is being faded while indirect communication is increasing. By utilizing nonverbal communication as a foundation, several spatial tools were employed to induce communication centered around movement, tactile sensations, and olfaction. Based on interviews conducted during spatial experiments and various psychological and sociological research, a concept of a virtual communication space prioritizing sensory connection was devised. In this virtual space, time and space are shared. The boundaries that separate spaces are flexible, opening and closing, allowing individuals to sense and communicate with each other through their senses. While modern communication often begins with the exchange of information and linguistic interaction, in this virtual space, communication starts with movement, friction, noise, or scent occurring in the shared physical environment. The boundaries that distinguish spaces are composed of various forms of curtains, which can open or close depending on the specific needs. These flexible boundaries allow each space to become a personal area or a shared area, depending on the circumstances.

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023 BA Photography With the recent cultural emphasis on the pursuit of happiness, the expression of negative emotions seems to be neglected. The impact of not valuing and integrating emotions that can be viewed as negative can be detrimental to one’s well-being. There seems to be a widespread denial or suppression of such emotions that, eventually, can lead to problems such as self-esteem problems, depression, anxiety, etc. This has led to the urge to better understand what this observation is based on. How do you dress? What parts of your life do you share? What version of yourself do you show? Do you show the socially acceptable version or the raw and authentic version of yourself? There seems to be an unspoken rule that dictates how people should behave and portray themselves in front of others, showing only the positive aspects of their life. Taking this concept to a photographic level, I have encountered this scenario many times. You walk up to somebody and ask if you can take a picture of them. Their body tenses up, they rise tall and proud, and their smile stretches from ear to ear. They suddenly seem to be the happiest they have been all day, just for the picture. This is also the reality of social media. Once you open the app you are sucked into a wonderland. Posts and stories of people seemingly living their best lives, travelling, smiling, flexing, and comparing themselves to a #FAKEBODY. This makes me question what power photography holds in this day and age. In what ways could photography be used as a tool used to suppress our emotions instead of allowing us to express our true feelings? Through the use of chaptersation and personal stories, this thesis is presented by different emotions. By doing this, my aim is to create awareness and highlight the emphasis of emotions, making the reader question their own feelings and emotions, taking what resonates and helping them to tap into into their own body.