Nikolaos, performer (1986), Athens, Greece | Look at the Pain in the eyes, and the Pain Passes

This work by Nikolaos attempts to give manifest physicality to mental distress, and seeks ways to overcome it. The lack of freedom and prevailing enchainment of humankind today is only intensified by greater societal acceptance of the status quo, which brings, by extension, even greater societal constraints. The artist makes this lack of freedom literal, appearing bound, and hanging by a rope. This constriction of the body allows for the liberation of the mind, revealing a path to freedom through self-control, meditation, and a belief in the power of thought.

Commissioned and produced by NEON + MAI, Nikolaos, Look at the Pain in the eyes, and the Pain Passes, on the occasion of AS ONE, Benaki Museum, Athens, 10 March – 24 April 2016, Filming Tokomburu, Production Inkas Film Productions