Despina Zacharopoulou

Shave-head female performance artist lying on a wooden crate with her eyes closed. A girl wearing latex gloves touches her.

Despina Zacharopoulou is a performance artist born in Arcadia, Greece, currently working between London and Athens. Her practice investigates performance as surface and event of parrhēsia, aiming at reconstituting philosophy as embodied practice and method towards a life which is radically other. Her live works borrow their artistic vocabulary from the 1970's performance tradition (e.g. long duration, pain practices, nudity, visceral character, performance-audience encounters etc), to raise contemporary issues on live art research methods.

Coming from an intra-disciplinary academic and professional background, Despina holds: a MSc & a Diploma (Hons) in Architecture (National Technical University of Athens / ERASMUS: École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-Val de Seine), a Master in Fine Arts (Athens Superior School of Fine Arts), and a Master in Visual Arts: Theatre Costume (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Greek State Scholarships Foundation scholar). As a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Art in London (Onassis Foundation scholar), Despina completed a practice-led MPhil in Sculpture (Performance) and a practice-led Ph.D. in Philosophy & Fine Art (Performance), supervised by Prof. Johnny Golding (Primary) and Prof. Nigel Rolfe (Second, 2015-2019).

Dr. Zacharopoulou’s artistic practice and research have been globally recognised in the area of performance-philosophy, and have been presented at events of global impact, such as: AS ONE by NEON Οrganization for Culture and Development and the Marina Abramović Institute (Benaki Museum, Athens, 2016); London Frieze (2016, 2017); A Possible Island? by the Marina Abramović Institute & the 1st Bangkok Art Biennale (Bacc, Bangkok, 2018-19); DataLoam (Angewandte Innovation Lab, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, 2019), ME/YOU YOU/ME (Gallery Sensei, London, 2016); Belgium is Happening (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp & Royal Academy of Fine Art Antwerp, Belgium, 2013), etc.

Publications include articles in: Performance Philosophy Journal, The NY Times, The Nation (Thailand), CNN Greece, Liberal newspaper (Greece), Frankfurter Rundschau, etc. Despina has received numerous prizes and grants for her artistic and academic achievements, including: the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2021), the Onassis Foundation Scholarship (2015), the Lon Landau Prize (2013), the Greek State Foundation Scholarship (2012), the Erasmus scholarship (2004), etc.

Despina has been working as a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art since 2016, leading MA Crits, Tutorials and School Groups. She is also the Course Leader of the RCA Contemporary Art Summer School (2018 onwards), and of the RCA Rethinking Contemporary Performance Art Masterclass.

https://www.despinazacharopoulou.com/

Shaved-head female performer covered in chalk gazing in front of her with intensity most possibly towards another person.

SPATIUM MONSTRORUM: Performance-as-Surface

My artistic practice and research revolve around a radical rethinking and re-making of performance art, moving away from traditional approaches which limit live art discourse within binaries, essentialism and fixed identities. What I suggest instead, is a re-situating of contemporary performance art as surface occupied only by intensities.

Dismissing the practice v.s. theory binary, my research approach acquires the form of a zētēsis or flânerie, and involves performance making as its research method, subject and output, fed by a constant dialogue with non-dialectical philosophers (e.g. Spinoza, Foucault, Bataille, Deleuze & Guattari, Sade, Lyotard, Nietzsche, Klossowski, Barad, Golding). My goal is to re-situate philosophy as an embodied practice and method, and to raise the question of whether contemporary performance art might operate as a mode de vie for a life which is radically other, experienced in its full intensity, and in pure joy.

In my Ph.D. Thesis SPATIUM MONSTRORUM: Performance-as-Surface (supported by the Onassis Foundation), supervised by Prof. J. Golding (Primary) and Prof. N. Rolfe (Second, 2015-2019), the importance of protocols of governmentality in the production and distribution of intensities within live art, is emphasized. As an example, I bring forward the use of (a) protocols of violence and (b) protocols of written contracts in my performance practice. Protocols of governmentality initiate morphogenetic processes governing the thickness and the porosity of boundaries within the performer-audience encounter, as manifested through the repetitive use of the performer’s body and its transmutation into flesh.

Thus argued, Master and slave contracts as used in BDSM, are brought forward both as examples of governmentality (Foucault) and as potential programs for the fabrication of a Body without Organs (Artaud, Deleuze & Guattari). In the suggested paradigm, repetition in performance art is rethought of as repetition of difference (Deleuze) and Eternal Return (Nietzsche) to trauma; with trauma now looked at as corporeal trace (Spinoza) and residue circulating within feedback loops (Mandelbrot). The risk required on behalf of the performer in this case, allows performance art to become a locus for truth to be exposed, with truth here being rethought of as parrhēsia (Foucault); as an event of courageous truth-telling where the performer exposes both themselves and a life which is radically other. In so doing, a discussion on a new hermeneutics of the subject opens, with identity now grasped as pulsating difference (Deleuze) and fortuitous case (Klossowski) submitted to Eternal Return (Nietzsche). Therefore, the potential of new ways of being with, via ideas of vulnerability and affectability, is enabled, after raising the urgency for a politics of intimacy and an ethics of care.

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Shaved-head female performer in a semi-transparent dress, lying on a crate. A male spectator touching her head with latex gloves

Despina Zacharopoulou, Protreptic, 3-week (168 hrs) long durational performance commissioned by the Marina Abramović Institute & Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, Thailand, 2018. Photo by Bangkok Art Biennale invigilators.

Shaved-head female performer naked, lying on a crate. A male spectator touching her belly with latex gloves

Shaved-head female performer in a semi-transparent dress, lying on a crate. A group of spectators touching her with latex gloves

Shaved-head female performer naked, lying on a crate. A female spectator touching her nose with latex gloves.

Shaved-head female performer in a semi-transparent dress, kneeling on a crate. A spectator touching her head with latex gloves

"I do not refute ideals, I merely draw gloves in their presence."

Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo, 1888

Protreptic (in Greek: προτρεπτικός [protreptikos], meaning: that which urges someone towards change) was a genre of ancient Greek philosophical discourse that served as an exhortation to philosophy. Despina Zacharopoulou’s Protreptic is a 3 week long durational performance which aims to re-visit, re-think and re-activate ancient Greek philosophy, right here and right now, after adopting the hypothesis stated by French philosopher Pierre Hadot, that; “[…] the ancient philosophers weren’t looking above all to present a systematic theory of reality, but to teach their students a method in order for them to be equally oriented in their thinking but also in their life.” Protreptic is an attempt to inhabit/be philosophy; philosophy as a way of life.

In Protreptic (2018), the audience was allowed to enter the performance space, after they had signed a contract (also signed by myself). In the contract, I was giving my consent to be touched by the audience, after the audience had put on latex gloves. By the end of the performance almost 6,000 people had visited the work.

The remainders of this performance (6,000 signed contracts & 12,000 used gloves) were later exhibited at the Dyson Gallery in London, as part of a post-performance installation, which also included: polaroids, videos and drawings (December 2021).

In Collaboration with:

Protreptic Video Link

Despina Zacharopoulou, Protreptic, 3-week (168 hrs) long durational performance commissioned by the Marina Abramović Institute & the Bangkok Art Biennale, Thailand (2018). Video by Bangkok Art Biennale/BaCC.

Protreptic Video Link (extended)

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Performance Art

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, standing on a crate. A female spectator touching her with latex gloves.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Matter, 30 min performance, ALCHEMIE, Anatomie studio London, UK, 2017. Photo by Anna Bones.

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, standing on a crate. A female spectator hugging her.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Matter, 30 min performance, ALCHEMIE, Anatomie studio London, UK, 2017. Photo by Anna Bones.

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, sitting on a crate. Two female spectators touching her.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Matter, 30 min performance, ALCHEMIE, Anatomie studio London, UK, 2017. Photo by Anna Bones.

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, sitting on a crate, half-naked, with a show in her mouth.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Matter, 30 min performance, ALCHEMIE, Anatomie studio London, UK, 2017. Photo by Anna Bones.

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, standing on a crate. A group of spectators hugging her.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Matter, 30 min performance, ALCHEMIE, Anatomie studio London, UK, 2017. Photo by Anna Bones.

“In an important sense, in a breathtakingly intimate sense, touching, sensing, is what matter does, or rather, what matter is: matter is condensations of responses, of response- ability.”

Barad, Karen. “TRANSMATERIALITIES: Trans*/Matter/realities and Queer Political imaginings.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, Vol. 21, No. 2-3 (2015): 387-422. DOI 10.1215/10642684-2843239, p.401-2.

At the beginning of the performance, a contract written by myself was read aloud to the audience by another person (Rhiannon Kelly). In the contract, I was withdrawing from any initiative regarding my own movement, and I was giving my consent to be touched by the audience, after the audience had signed the contract and had put on latex gloves. The contract also stated that the performance would stop after 30 minutes had passed.

In Collaboration with:

Matter (2017) Video Link

Despina Zacharopoulou // matter // 30' performance in the context of ALCHEMIE night at Anatomie Studio, London, UK, 2017 // thank you to: Rhiannon Kelly for reading the contract & to JW for documenting the performance.

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Performance Art

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Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, walking while facing and touching an old chapel's wall.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.), 2hrs performance, Daybreak, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017. Photo by Monika Kita.

Shaved-head female performer in black shirt and pants, taking off her clothes.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.), 2hrs performance, Daybreak, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017. Photo by Monika Kita.

Shaved-head female performer lying naked on a crate in a former Asylum's chapel.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.), 2hrs performance, Daybreak, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017. Photo by Monika Kita.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.), 2hrs performance, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.), 2hrs performance, Daybreak, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017. Photo by Monika Kita.

In Collaboration with:

Response-ability (d'après K.B.) Video Link

***video contains nudity*** // Despina Zacharopoulou, Response-ability (d'après K.B.) // 2hrs performance in the context of Daybreak RCA Research Show, Asylum Live, Caroline Gardens Chapel, London, 2017. // Video by Monika Kita.

Medium:

Performance Art

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Shaved-head female performer in light blue dress, standing on her toes, with her face pressing a book against a white wall.

Despina Zacharopoulou, D'après S.K., 10-min performance, Tender Loin #9, Steakhouse Live,Toynbee Studios, London, 2017. Photo by Greg Goodale.

Shaved-head female performer in light blue dress, walking among the audience.

Despina Zacharopoulou, D'après S.K., 10-min performance, Tender Loin #9, Steakhouse Live,Toynbee Studios, London, 2017. Photo by Greg Goodale.

Shaved-head female performer in light blue dress, turning upside down against the wall, to reveal her naked and marked body.

Despina Zacharopoulou, D'après S.K., 10-min performance, Tender Loin #9, Steakhouse Live,Toynbee Studios, London, 2017. Photo by Greg Goodale.

"I can see then that it requires strength and energy and freedom of spirit to make the infinite movement of resignation; I can also see that it can be done."

Kierkegaard, Søren. Fear and Trembling. Translated by Alastair Hannay. London: Penguin Classics, 1985

In Collaboration with:

D'après S.K. Video Link

***video contains nudity*** Despina Zacharopoulou, D'après S.K., live performance in the context of Tender Loin #9, Steakhouse Live, Toynbee Studios, London, UK, 2017. // Video by Vasiliki Antonopoulou (a.k.a. Billy Klotsa).

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Performance Art

Shaved-head female performer crawling on the floor, wearing a black full body leotard with the back open. Her back bears marks.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Being a Threat, 2 hrs performance, Performing Identities, Dyson Gallery, 2016. Photo by Ania Mokrzycka.

In Collaboration with:

Being a Threat Video Link

***If you have epilepsy, it would not be recommended to watch this video*** Despina Zacharopoulou, Being a Threat, 2hrs performance // Performing Identities Exhibition, Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art // event supported by the RCA // in the context of the 2015/16 Research Methods Course Performance cluster convened by Dr Chantal Faust and led by Jeremy Millar at the Royal College of Art. // Video shooting by Ania Mokrzycka. // Video editing by Despina Zacharopoulou.

PDF: Despina Zacharopoulou, "being surface," in: Performance Philosophy Journal, Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): 111–140.

Despina Zacharopoulou, "being surface," in: Performance Philosophy Journal, Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): 111–140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21476/PP.2022.72360 ISSN 2057–7176 Source: https://www.performancephilosophy.org/journal/article/view/360/495 (accessed: 13-06-2022).

Medium:

Performance Art

being a threat Despina Zacharopoulou Dyson Gallery live art Liveness marks performance performance art performance as philosophy performance philosophy Performing Identities philosophy

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Shaved-head female performer lying naked on a crate with bowls of glitter and honey placed on the floor right next to her.

Despina Zacharopoulou, The Most Precious Non-Object, 6 hrs long durational performance, ME/YOU YOU/ME, Gallery Sensei, 2016. Photo by Félicie Kertudo.

Shaved-head female performer lying on a crate, having a female visitor applying honey and glitter on her body.

Despina Zacharopoulou, The Most Precious Non-Object, 6 hrs long durational performance, ME/YOU YOU/ME, Gallery Sensei, 2016. Photo by Félicie Kertudo.

Bowls with glitter and honey placed right next to a wooden crate.

Despina Zacharopoulou, The Most Precious Non-Object, 6 hrs long durational performance, ME/YOU YOU/ME, Gallery Sensei, 2016. Photo by Patricio Soto Aguilar.

Shaved-head female performer kneeling on top of a crate, with her body covered in glitter and honey.

Despina Zacharopoulou, The Most Precious Non-Object, 6 hrs long durational performance, ME/YOU YOU/ME, Gallery Sensei, 2016. Photo by Félicie Kertudo.

Shaved-head female performer standing on top of a crate, with her body covered in glitter and honey.

Despina Zacharopoulou, The Most Precious Non-Object, 6 hrs long durational performance, Gallery Sensei, 2016. Photo by Patricio Soto Aguilar.

The most precious non-object (2016) marks the beginning of a series of live works of contracts, where I invite the audience to touch me after they have worn latex gloves.

In this particular piece, the invitation was made through a contract / personal declaration of consent placed on one of the gallery's walls, which stated:

Despina Zacharopoulou

"The most precious non-object"

6 hrs long durational performance

The artist invites you to make her "the most precious non-object" by applying on her skin the materials that are placed on the floor next to her. You may touch her only by wearing gloves and apply the materials that would make her "precious" for as long as you wish.

In Collaboration with:

The Most Precious Non-Object Video Link

***video contains nudity*** Despina Zacharopoulou // The most precious non-object, 6 hours long durational performance, ME/YOU YOU/ME, Gallery Sensei London, 2016. // Organised & curated by Jeroen Van Dooren & Despina Zacharopoulou. // Selected & supported by the Royal College of Art Student-led event competition. // Video shooting by Patricio Soto Aguilar. // Video editing by Despina Zacharopoulou. // Other artists appearing in the video: Alice Jacobs, Luli Perez.

Medium:

Performance Art

Shaved-head female performer facing the corner of a room, dressed in a worker's outfit, with her back exposed, in bondage.

Despina Zacharopoulou,Corner Time, 7-week (324 hrs) long durational performance, commissioned by the NEON Organisation and the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), AS ONE, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, 10/03/2016 – 24/04/2016. Photo by Natalia Tsoukala.

Shaved-head female performer in a worker's uniform, in bondage, sitting on the floor and being hugged by a visitor.

Shaved-head female performer in a worker's uniform, in bondage, lying on the floor, gagged with a block of chalk.

Shaved-head female performer in a worker's uniform, in bondage, sitting on the floor, covering her head with chalk.

Shaved-head female performer in a worker's uniform, in bondage, sitting on a chair, having her feet wiped by a visitor.

Despina Zacharopoulou,Corner Time, 7-week (324 hrs) long durational performance, commissioned by the NEON Organisation and the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), AS ONE, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, 10/03/2016 – 24/04/2016

This performance explores the mental spaces that open up during control exchange in human relationships. Over the course of seven weeks, for eight hours per day, the artist hosts the audience in an enclosed space and performs a set of actions combining methods and goals drawn from practices of meditation, discipline and restriction. The goal of this piece is to create potent, experimental situations of control exchange while playing with the multiple functions of the gaze: a mechanism for introspection, surveillance, recognition and communication.

In Collaboration with:

Corner Time Video Link

Despina Zacharopoulou, Corner time, 7-week, 324hrs long durational performance, commissioned by the NEON Organisation and The Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, 10/03/2016-24/04/2016. Film by Tokomburu // Executive Producer Lilette Botasi // Production Coordinator Athanasia Michopoulou // Production Manager Dimitris Hatzivogiatzis // Music Michalis Moschoutis // Sound Yannis Antipas // Assistant Camera Panayotis Kravvaris

Medium:

Performance Art

AS ONE Benaki Museum bondage corner time Despina Zacharopoulou kinbaku long durational performance Marina Abramović Institute NEON performance performance art shibari

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Naked, shaved-head, female performer lying on the floor with Himalayan salt rocks on her torso, aligned to her spine.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Aftercare, 20 hrs long durational performance, MATTER, Royal College of Art, 2016. Photo by Janina Anja Lange.

Himalayan salt rocks and chalk on a grey floor. Performance remainders.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Aftercare, 20 hrs long durational performance, MATTER, Royal College of Art, 2016. Photo by Janina Anja Lange.

Medium:

Performance Art

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Shave-head female performer, wearing a skin-toned full body-suit, in bondage and gagged by a male rigger in black.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015. Ropes: Fred Hatt. Photo: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Shave-head female performer, wearing a skin-toned full body-suit, in bondage by a male rigger in black.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015. Ropes: Fred Hatt. Photo: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Shave-head female performer, wearing a skin-toned full body-suit, in bondage, having her head stroked by a male rigger.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015. Ropes: Fred Hatt. Photo: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Shave-head female performer, wearing a skin-toned full body-suit, in bondage being untied by a male rigger in black.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015. Ropes: Fred Hatt. Photo: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Shave-head female performer, wearing a skin-toned full body-suit, lying on the floor and being abandoned by a male rigger.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015. Ropes: Fred Hatt. Photo: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, 20-min performance, Dyson Gallery, RCA, London, 2015.

Credits: Artist/Performer/Costume: Despina Zacharopoulou, Ropes: Fred Hatt.

In Collaboration with:

Introduction Video Link

***If you have epilepsy, it would not be recommended to watch this video*** Despina Zacharopoulou, Introduction, Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art, 2015. Credits: Artist/Performance/Costume/Video Editing: Despina Zacharopoulou, Ropes: Fred Hatt, Camera: Jeroen Van Dooren.

Medium:

Performance Art

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Shaved-head female performer taking off her clothes.

Despina Zacharopoulou, Pudeur (d'après F.N.), The New Darkroom, RCA Queer Society, Dyson Gallery, London, 2017. // Text by Friedrich Nietzsche (Le gai savour / La gaia scienza) translated by P.Wotling, slightly altered by P.Hadot. // Video by Vasiliki Antonopoulou a.k.a. Billy Klotsa.

Shaved-head, naked, female performer wearing latex gloves and reading from a book.

Shaved-head, naked, female performer stapling her right nipple.

Shaved-head, naked, female performer, standing up and reading from a book.

Spoken text written by Friedrich Nietzsche (Le gai savour / La gaia scienza), translated in French by P.Wotling and slightly altered by P.Hadot.

In Collaboration with:

Pudeur (d'après F.N.) Video Link

***video contains nudity/body modification*** Despina Zacharopoulou, Pudeur (d'après F.N.), The New Darkroom, RCA Queer Society, Dyson Gallery, London, 2017. // Text by Friedrich Nietzsche (Le gai savour / La gaia scienza) translated by P.Wotling, slightly altered by P.Hadot. // Video by Vasiliki Antonopoulou a.k.a. Billy Klotsa.

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Performance Art

Despina Zacharopoulou

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