Για την Ελληνική εκδοχή

The artist Elektra Stampoulou inaugurates the curatorial program Hyperhidrosis Sweating Together (December 2024 – June 2025), a collaboration between ATOPOS cvc and the Office of Hydrocommons supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture, with an olfactory workshop on December 22, 2024.

The workshop invited participants to explore and experiment with the natural odor of the human body, delving into its social and cultural connotations. Using organic materials and lab tools, participants redefined notions of intimacy, identity, and personal space through smell, creating a collective “sweaty landscape”.

Sweat is the human body’s cooling system, activated by rising temperatures or stress. Hyperhidrosis, the overactivation of sweat glands, signals imbalance, a phenomenon mirrored in all living systems—even the planet itself. Plants “sweat” through transpiration, releasing water to cool their surroundings, but when water is scarce, they overheat and die. Similarly, Earth’s ecosystems and artificial systems like AI struggle to maintain balance under mounting pressures.

AI systems consume vast amounts of water to cool their data centers, exposing a hidden commerce of water that reflects global inequities. While high-tech industries thrive, millions lack access to clean water. This commodification of water prioritizes technological progress over human and environmental needs, exacerbating climate crises and deepening global disparities.

The metaphor of public bathhouses—spaces of shared care and renewal—offers a hopeful counterpoint. Ottoman hammams celebrated sweat as a communal act of balance and equality. Over the coming months, Hyperhidrosis Sweating Together will explore these ideas across venues, celebrating sweat—human, plant, or machine—as a metaphor for interconnectedness and the need to sustain balance in all systems of life.

Stay tuned!