Inflated Liquidities

Here’s a version adapted to first-person perspective while keeping it clear and accessible for a new reader:

Inflated Liquidity is a body-sculpture instrument that I developed within four months as part of my artistic residency at Thinker Maker Space, CYENS Centre of Excellence. The instrument consists of two bellows, a soundbox, and eight flue pipes. The bellows hold air, which I manipulate through my body movements and applied pressure to send airflow into the soundbox. The flue pipes direct the air through a slit, producing oscillations as the wind passes and interacts with the structure, generated through repetitive in-and-out movements.

The sounds of Inflated Liquidity depend entirely on my body movements, strength, and synergy with any other performers, creating a performative loop between body, movement, and sound within the sculpture. I consider Inflated Liquidity a co-inhabitant of multiple spaces, my body, the structure, the rules and play of the interaction, and the surrounding space, through which I explore relational communication between bodies. The instrument’s performative language engages with social interaction, intimacy, play, pleasure, humour, consent, and negotiation of space and agency. Mechanically and conceptually, it draws inspiration from historical instruments and devices such as the Hydraulis, pipe organ, accordion, bagpipe, and nineteenth-century suspension machines for musculoskeletal therapy.

Through this instrument, I investigate questions about communication systems and how communal dynamics emerge in playful settings. I ask: How is community created through play, freedom, and structure? What kinds of communication systems, challenges, and dynamics arise within a communal environment? How do non-verbal rules of play influence how a community organizes itself, and how do participants assert their presence and agency within a shared space?

I want to extend my special thanks to CYENS – Thinker Maker Space of Centre of Excellence, Archimedes Ltd, Sipone Textiles, and my friends and family for their psychological and practical support throughout this process. Many people contributed their advice, assistance, and encouragement, including Alex Charalambous, Andrea Hadjinicola, Andreas Mallouris, Angela Ioannidou, Antonis Antoniou, Christos Christodoulou, Constantinos Stylianou, Elena Stylianou, Giorgos Aloneftis, Giorgos Dimoglou, Ioli Kaskani, Kyriaki Yiakoupi, Kyriakos Adamou, Maria Efstathiou (NIMAC), Maria Georgiou, Maria Loizou, Marios Charalambous, Marios Constantinides, Melissa Garcia Carro, Mr. Petros, Nemo Nonnenmacher, Pavlos Gavrielides, Polina Poulcheriou, Stella Taousiani, and Stratis Pantelides.

With Inflated Liquidity, I explore sound, movement, and relational dynamics, creating a space where the body, material, and social interaction meet in a performative dialogue.

A project by Nicolina Stylianou
the demo performance is performed by Melissa Garcia Carro, Ioli Kaskani and Nicolina Stylianou