“ASTROWALKER CONSTELLATION” KATERINA KOTSALA
On the Greek island of Syros, the capital of the Cyclades, the Astrowalker Constellation, the new environmental night-time land art installation created by Katerina Kotsala, is presented as part of this year’s 18th edition of the ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival, which will take place from September 22 to 28, 2025. The Astrowalker Constellation is composed of 11 solar lights, with dimensions of 357×158 meters. It is a simulation of an earthly constellation that abstractly forms a human-bird figure, the Astrowalker, installed on the islet of Didimi, just across from Ermoupoli. “The Astrowalker Constellation is a poetic artistic gesture in nature. It is a proposal for contemporary mythology, an allegory, where the Astrowalker, as a dislocated constellation, reappears in dark, mysterious, and inaccessible places. Only there it can unfold its wings and be seen. On mountains, islands, in landscapes far from light pollution, the Astrowalker strives to unite with the other stars of the sky. Although this is in vain due to their difference, it keeps trying, driven by its impulse for an ideal world. The work thus doesn’t refer to the individual imagination of an artist, but rather, it achieves a collective resonance, as an extension of thoughts and questions raised by our times — such as, whether the total disappearance of stars/fireflies has really taken place (see George Didi-Huberman, The Survival of the Fireflies, 2009), or if a silent revolution is starting from the mountains and islands.
My first encounter with the human-bird was in 2010, during a research program studying prehistoric rock carvings in nature, in collaboration with archaeologists. It was then that I first noticed a rock carving representing the human-bird in a linear way: it was two rectangles perpendicular to each other, like an abstract human form, that created the sense that the figure was flying. This sense was reinforced by the oblique placement of the drawing on the rock, in relation to the other carvings and the earth, with its background to the east. The persona of the Astrowalker was born out of this experience, which appears regularly in land art constellations since 2012. The Astrowalker “earth constellations” appear in different places each time, embodying the double concept of figure and idea — all the while striving to capture the essence of things beyond the visual, within the context of endangered ecosystems.
In 2025, the environmental work Astrowalker Constellation reappears, this time on the island of Didimi, opposite the town of Ermoupolis in Syros, as part of ANIMASYROS. On Didimi stands the first lighthouse in Greece, built in 1835. The lighthouse symbolizes the change of eras, the transition from the historical to the technological period — while it is also a point of orientation, analogous to how travelers have been using constellations since prehistory. In an attempt tο fragment the image through the unification of earth and sky, as well as through an exploration of the poetic potential of materials, the Astrowalker Constellation appears with the use of solar lights, and with minimal luminescence, it tries to be visible from Didimi island across Ermoupolis. There is a mystery, but Astrowalker Constellation reveals itself, by search and focused observation, it is there, you can see it.
In order for the Astrowalker to achieve its apparent suspension, 11 “stars” are placed in a bird formation, with a slight tilt on the surface of the island, directed towards the sky. They are waiting for the sun to set and for the earth to become one with the sky, creating an earthly continuation of the stars. The solar lights have a power of 3,5 lumen, which is enough for the artwork to be visible in the natural environment without causing light pollution. They do not affect the environment, they run on solar energy, and they will leave no trace once removed after ANIMASYROS 2025 is over. Indicative visibility points of the project are the Manna area, at Syros Airport and Agios Dimitrios. It is a work based on sustainability.” Katerina
Katerina Kotsala July 2025, Athens
Team Project: Katerina Kotsala & Pythagoras Chatziandreou, Production Director: Orestis Rouskas, Photographer: Alexandros Petrakis, Documentation Photographer: Nikoleta Gialoglou
