The Art of Waiting

Ekphrasis (2023)
Created by Marc Da Costa & Matthew Niederhauser
Components: Single-channel HD video (1920x1080) with stereo sound / Accompanying hardcover book
The project was created with the support of Onassis ONX.
An excerpt from the work, based on C. P. Cavafy’s poem “Ithaca,” is presented.

“Ekphrasis” is a machine learning video work and artistic research project devised by Matthew Niederhauser and Marc Da Costa. It explores how poetry can illuminate the algorithmic systems that form the backdrop of our lives and, increasingly, shape what we feel and imagine. In the work, C. P. Cavafy's poetry becomes a filter and a prompt to interrogate the visuality of today’s machine-learning tools. These technologies are the magic sorcerers of the moment, spooking and exciting us, yet drawing their material not from a supernatural world beyond, but instead from the zeitgeist of images and text that live online. C. P. Cavafy’s poetic corpus can provide a glimpse into how artificially intelligent systems attempt to construe and interpret the more subjective edges of language. Edges that can both inspire and confound. Our results will be cataloged into a printed compendium, which will also act as a codex to an installation that will cycle through machine-learning responses to his work, including AI-driven readings and other visual renderings of select poems.

That Feeling of not Knowing, 2020 (excerpts), Software/Simulation /HD Display, Gaming PC, Based on Anti-Gone by Connor Willumsen, Commissioned and Produced by Onassis Culture

The artwork was on display at the Aegean Business Lounge (Athens International Airport): 21.05-28.11.2025

“That Feeling of Not Knowing” (2020) is a live simulation taking place on a deserted island. Spyda and Lynxa, a couple, seem trapped inside an infinite loop, reliving their own geoengineered version of paradise. Time expands as they begin to question the foundations of their relationship and the privilege of escape.

About Theo Triantafyllidis

Theo Triantafyllidis (b. 1988, Athens, GR) is an artist who works with digital and physical media to explore the experience of space and the mechanics of embodiment in hybrid realities. He creates interactions within immersive environments using algorithms and game engines, virtual reality headsets, and experimental performance processes. In Triantafyllidis’ worlds, awkward interactions and precarious physics mingle with uncanny, absurd, and poetic situations, inviting viewers to engage with new realities. Through the lens of monster theory, he investigates themes of isolation, sexuality, and violence in their visceral extremities. He offers computational humor and AI improvisation as a response to the tech industry’s agenda. He tries to give back to the online and gaming communities, which he considers both the inspiration and context for his work, by remaining an active participant and contributor. He holds an MFA from UCLA, Design Media Arts, and a Diploma of Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens. He has shown work in museums, including Centre Pompidou in Metz, Buk-SEMA in Seoul, House of Electronic Arts in Basel, and NRW Forum in Dusseldorf, and galleries such as Meredith Rosen Gallery, The Breeder, Nagel Draxler, and Eduardo Secci. He was part of the 2021 Athens Biennale: “Eclipse,” Berliner Festspiele 2021, Sundance New Frontier 2020, and Hyper Pavilion in the 2017 Venice Biennale. Theo Triantafyllidis is based between Athens and Los Angeles.

Theo Triantafyllidis X Onassis Culture

Theo Triantafyllidis has maintained an ongoing collaboration with Onassis Culture. His digital works, “Prometheus” (2017), “Nike” (2018), “Anti-Gone” (2020), and “That Feeling of Not Knowing” (2020), are part of the Onassis Collection. Triantafyllidis has been, at times, an Onassis Foundation Scholar, an Onassis AiR Fellow (2024–2025), and a member of Onassis ONX. In 2022, he participated in “Plásmata II: Ioannina” with the olfactory installation “BugSim (Pheromone Spa),” a rich landscape of scents featuring a digital screen and large sculptures inspired by the elaborate structures built by ant colonies. In 2020, he contributed the immersive video “Notes to Readiness: Step 1” to the Onassis Foundation’s ENTER initiative, in which artists created works within 120 hours during the lockdown period of the pandemic. In 2024, he took part in “Group Hug” by Onassis ONX, a groundbreaking exhibition of large-scale video game installations in New York City.

Robert Wilson, Kool: Snowy Owl, 2006 (Horizontal Blue), edition 2 of 2, Music by Carl Maria von Weber, arranged by Peter Cerone, 65΄ HD Video

The artwork was on display at the Aegean Business Lounge (Athens International Airport): 14.02-20.05.2025

Kool: Snowy Owl, 2006 (Horizontal Blue), part of the “Video Portraits” series, blends Robert Wilson’s mastery of opera direction, painting, choreography, and set, lighting, and sound design. Fittingly, the musical score is composed by one of the greatest orchestrators in history, Carl Maria von Weber. The high-definition video offers depth and clarity to the moving image, allowing it to mimic a theater stage, which in turn mimics real life. Owl symbolized wisdom for ancient Greeks, while the Snowy Owl is a rare species that can be active day and night, just like the work that plays on a loop. Kool, used in the title, is an obsolete word that means ‘to pay attention with your eyes’ but also echoes the sound the animal makes. To notice the owl’s slight movements, you must stand still long enough to grasp how subtly yet focused it goes through life. As the artist calls these portraits “a document of our time,” this work serves as a visual representation of life.

About Robert Wilson

“Robert Wilson is a towering figure in experimental theater and an explorer of time and space on stage.”—The New York Times

Born in Waco, Texas, Robert Wilson is a leading theater and visual artist known for his innovative integration of dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music, and text. His productions, praised worldwide for their aesthetic and emotional power, feature collaborators such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed, Jessye Norman, and Anna Calvi. Wilson’s works include acclaimed productions of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures have been shown globally. Wilson has received numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, Premio Ubu awards, and the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. He is a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters and an Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Discover more about Robert Wilson.

Robert Wilson X Onassis Culture

In 2013, Robert Wilson presented 43 video portraits at Onassis Stegi, blending film, theater, painting, and music to explore how contemporary screens act as “windows” to other worlds. These looping portraits, featuring artists, animals, intellectuals, and actors, are noted for their vivid colors, evocative texts, and unique music. Wilson described them as “a document of our time” and “portraits.” Notable works like Juliette Binoche, Isabella Rossellini, and Kool, Snowy Owl (Horizontal Blue) are part of the Onassis Collection. During the exhibition, Wilson showcased his aesthetic universe through a performance reflecting his creative process. In 2017, Wilson returned to Onassis Stegi within the framework of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, presenting Letter to a Man with Mikhail Baryshnikov. The performance examined Vaslav Nijinsky’s psychological struggles and artistic legacy, guided by Wilson’s direction and Baryshnikov’s powerful portrayal, offering an emotionally charged experience.