Multidisciplinary artist Dionysios has unveiled "Precarious Design," an innovative series of objects and installations that explore themes of fragility, impermanence, and improvisation through the transformation of found materials. The works, which span design, sculpture, and installation, exist in a unique space between utility and artifact, carrying visible traces of time, use, and human care while challenging conventional notions of permanence in contemporary design.
Drawing from his background in clinical psychology, the Greek artist approaches each project as what he calls "a choreography of experience." During a recent interview, Dionysios explained his methodology: "I often think less like a maker and more like a choreographer of experience: how someone interacts with the work, what they feel without realizing why, and how they might leave changed." This psychological foundation influences how he shapes behavior, atmosphere, and even silence through his artistic practice.
The artist's fascination with salvaged and discarded materials stems from their inherent memory and history. "They carry memory. A found object has already lived a life before it enters my work. Scratches, dents, traces of touch, passage of time. When I use them, I'm not starting from zero; I'm in conversation with that past," Dionysios told interviewers. This approach reflects both his commitment to sustainability and his belief in the democratic nature of ordinary, recognizable objects that reveal new meanings when placed in different contexts.
The "Precarious Design" series was prominently featured during the Art Athens 2025 fair in two distinct presentations. At the Taxidi Tinos booth in the Design section, visitors encountered "Cave Drawings," which inscribes sun and moon motifs in gold and silver leaf on rusted steel surfaces. These pieces feature lacquered backs that recall couture linings while their corroded surfaces evoke humanity's earliest artistic expressions.
Simultaneously, the art and design platform Spazio Altro hosted the exhibition "PLAYDATE," which gathered several key pieces from the series including the Koutsombola (gossip bench), Balance Chair, Surrealist Side Table, and Totem. These functional sculptures combine marble fragments, ancient timbers, and repurposed plastics into provisional yet fully operational forms. Gold leaf applied to century-old cypress logs and olive roots imbues the salvaged materials with symbolic weight while maintaining their practical functionality.
For Dionysios, the conceptual framework of "Precarious Design" emerges from his broader artistic philosophy about instability and impermanence. "We live in a world that sells us permanence and perfection, but in reality everything is temporary, everything shifts. Relationships, cities, even nature feel unstable. Through Precarious Design, and my practice overall, I don't try to disguise that, I highlight it," he reflects. The artist views precariousness not as weakness but as "a form of truth" that forces people to stay alert and remain present in the moment.
The series builds upon Dionysios's ongoing exploration of temporality, which he has pursued in previous works such as "Meditation on Time" (2022), presented at Onassis Stegis Plásmata 3 in Athens, and the durational performance "Meditation on Light" (2023) at the Great Pyramids of Giza. The pyramid installation proved particularly transformative for the artist, as he initially planned to present a perfect gold carpet at the feet of the pyramids, only to watch the desert bury and destroy it.
"That's when I truly understood my work and myself: learning to surrender to external forces and let the piece become what it is meant to be," Dionysios explained. The work evolved into a long-durational, performative installation where people from the desert, camel riders, exhibition visitors, and guides collaborated daily to add gold leaf, knowing it would be erased each night and begin again the next day. This experience taught him about humility and the power of collective effort while embodying the tension between the ephemeral and the eternal that defines his practice.
The artist's multidisciplinary approach stems from his belief that different ideas require different languages of expression. "Sometimes an idea needs the weight of a physical object, other times it needs to stretch into space and become an environment, and other times it belongs in the digital layer that now shadows our lives," he explains. This flexibility allows him to move fluidly between sculpture, installation, and digital media, with each medium amplifying or contradicting the others in productive ways.
Dionysios's commitment to sustainability extends beyond environmental concerns to encompass a fundamental way of being. "I am also a huge advocate for sustainability, not as a political stance, but as a way of being. There is an abundance of materials to work with and transform," he notes. This philosophy aligns with his attraction to the tension between fragility and endurance found in discarded objects, whether old car parts, worn surfaces, ancient wood, or marble scraps.
Looking toward future projects, the Athens- and Paris-based artist expresses excitement about pushing the boundaries of where art can exist. He envisions larger public works in iconic locations alongside unexpected collaborations with technology, theater, cinema, and fashion. "I'm interested in how an installation can shift when it meets the dramaturgy of a stage or the rigor of a science lab, and how an object might function in a ritual outside of the white cube," he explains.
The artist continues to explore the overlap between physical and digital realms, though he approaches this intersection subtly rather than with a technology-first mentality. His goal involves creating "subtle infusions where nature, light, and code intertwine" while maintaining the alive, unstable, and mutable qualities that characterize his work. "I don't want a fixed formula. I want to surprise myself, and by extension, the audience," Dionysios concludes, emphasizing his commitment to keeping his practice open to continuous evolution and transformation.
