THANOS TSIOUSIS

02. Acts of Fragility

Acts of Fragility is an ongoing project that delves into the concepts of vulnerability, endurance, and the ephemeral nature of existence. Through a series of video works and material objects, the project explores the quiet rituals and repetitive actions that define our relationship with the material world, questioning where the boundaries lie between the body, the object, and the act of creation.

Thanos Tsiousis, Digital Relic, 3D model of 'Bread & Butter (to breathe)
Bread & Butter (to breathe), Digital Relic, 2021,
360° interactive model — click & drag to rotate tap & swipe to rotate
Thanos Tsiousis / A physical sculpture of a face made from bread, titled 'Bread & butter (to breathe), Video Art, 2021'.
Bread & Butter (to breathe), Object Photo, 2023
Bread & Butter (to breathe), Photographic Documentation of the Production Process, 2021

Bread & butter (to breathe)

Bread and Butter is a video artwork that reflects on the cultural and environmental value of food. A loaf of bread and a piece of butter are chosen for their symbolic and aesthetic potential, forming a subtle “choreography” between human action, object, and process.

Bread, a staple food often referred to as the “essence of life,” embodies comfort and security, while at the same time exposing the precarity of wheat, its fundamental source, which is increasingly threatened by climate change, prolonged drought, and the spread of disease.

This fragile balance between nourishment and threat is also inscribed in the work itself: the dough is shaped into a human face, directly linking the act of eating to human existence. Alongside it, the butter slowly decomposes, signaling the passage of time and the uncertainty of the environment.

Through this poetic encounter, Bread and Butter transforms everyday food into a medium of reflection on resilience, fragility, and our shared ecological future.

Resolution1080x1920 px (Full HD)
Duration2’53’’
Year2021

Table Ritual of Resistance

Table Ritual of Resistance is a video performance presenting a loaf of bread shaped like a turtle. The performer attempts to cut and share it using plastic knives. Despite their abundance, the knives break, bend, or fail, revealing a silent yet persistent struggle.

The work highlights the contradiction between the intention to share and the resistance of the “shell.” The turtle-shaped bread functions as a double signifier: domestic and animal, nourishing yet impenetrable. Here, the turtle becomes an allegory of patience, slow resistance, and resilience, while the bread itself makes it accessible within everyday life. The plastic knives, as symbols of a culture of overconsumption, embody the futility of seeking solutions within the very problem—overproduction, waste, and disposability.

Table Ritual of Resistance transforms the simplicity of a daily act into a reflection on the weight of the materials we use and the world they shape.

Resolution1920x1080 px (Full HD)
DurationVariable
Year2025
Thanos Tsiousis / Table Ritual of Resistance,  Video Stills, 2025
Table Ritual of Resistance, Video Stills, 2025