Tami Zafeiropoulou

Human beings tend to dichotomise the worlds we occupy, either mental or sentimental, either geopolitical or just political, either cultural or individual. When did the mind get separated from the body? What were the cultural contexts that led to this separation? Was it the Western imperative that imposed such a separation? Or was it merely a human necessity? What effect does this have on the connection between the brain and the heart? This work aims to unify these opposing, contradictory qualities through an alternative form of listening. “Attunement" encompasses contrasting elements, examining external factors such as sociopolitical pressures, parental shortcomings, and other influences through the perspective of bodily experiences and internal psychological processes, including what is retained within. This work utilises schemes beginning with the physical elements, such as the nerves, the brain, and the heart, as well as through language, in order to address what has not yet been articulated—the intelligible. The installation “Attunement" endeavours to establish a language that, although capable of being dialectical, employs elements from diverse cultures along with idiolectic schemes. It aims to become a communication tool accessible to everyone. And it tries to do so by bringing together a very rational, linear, logic-oriented speech, like Ancient Greek, through a hymn written by a male, though referring to a woman, and a Japanese Futomani Divination Chart, not only in its form but also in its core, as it’s being deconstructed. Phonemes persist as irrational elements; completion originates from the vocal medium itself. The presence of the vagus nerve is crucial for the successful culmination of this process. Voice functions as an extension of the body; “Attunement” hosts the body itself. Along with the voice, the phonemes, or any elements that exist within the paralinguistic domain, or within rational speech. By embracing the ‘disorderly’, whether it manifests in the body, mind, or heart, we can discover a pathway to explore the internal world. Each ‘disorder’ may express the same fundamental form, establishing a connection across diverse global practices. A voice serving as a calming medium for the ‘disorder’. A stitched textile that can sew generations. A hymn that can inspire faith. A nerve striving for balance. A cushion that can host an agony. A heart capable of providing clarity. “Attunement” consists of two main pillars linked by a copper-coated steel vagus nerve. The western porcelain-coated interactive plinth leads to the “Serenity” textile sculpture, which serves as a memorial of recollections, traces, and threads, illustrating relationships and silent inheritances across generations that preceded my own, concealing a sonic environment and reflecting my negative thoughts—irrational, selfish, and AI-generated. Hope endures through songs and recordings of the sea from Athens, birds from Chios, and from Ancient Olympia. The eastern porcelain-coated plinth functions as a Buddhist sanctuary. An embroidered silk cushion rests atop, inscribed with a poem—dedicated to my mother and to my womanhood. Above all, a heart that needs no words.