As part of the collaboration between the SNFCC and ARTWORKS, the work of the artistic collective Hypercomf is presented within the framework of the SNFCC Green Weekend at the Stavros Niarchos Park. Hypercomf is a multidisciplinary group engaged in contemporary art, design, and ecological discourse. The exhibition Hypercomf | Marine Caves and Benthic Terrazzo is presented as part of the SNFCC Green Weekend at the Stavros Niarchos Park.
Hypercomf presents twenty prints from the Benthic Terrazzo series at the Perimeter of the Stavros Niarchos Park. The work explores the challenges faced by marine ecosystems today and the threats that emerge for the future, combining scientific field research, film production, prototype design, and public workshops. The goal is to enhance the understanding of human impact on the ocean and to seek solutions that could mitigate the consequences of human activity.
In collaboration with marine biologist Markos Digenis, the team studied the ecosystems of the marine caves of Crete and documented how our everyday domestic activities leave their traces on the seabed, forming the future fossils of an archaeology to come. At the core of the research is the Benthic Terrazzo, a series of tiles inspired by Venetian terrazzo mosaic. Hypercomf’s practice replaces part of the sand and cement with marine pollutants—plastic objects, microplastics, nets, and ropes—incorporating them into an upcycling process that can be easily reproduced. Each tile draws its aesthetic from underwater photographic impressions of sea caves, creating connections between human homes and marine habitats.
Hypercomf continues to evolve the technique through larger applications and open workshops in coastal and island areas, aiming to support the reuse of plastic waste from beach cleanups.
The exhibited series was created between 2020 and 2022 as part of the Studiotopia program, hosted by the Onassis Foundation Stegi and co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, with scientific advisory by Markos Digenis and material support from BlueCycle.
Benthic Terrazzo #20, 2021, HYPERCOMF, Studiotopia, Photo by Hypercomf
Hypercomf is a multidisciplinary speculative design identity founded in 2017 as a fictitious company profile and based on the island of Tinos, Greece. The practice explores relationships between nature and culture, domestication, industry, and science, while fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and community participation. Working across diverse modes of production with biodiverse participants, Hypercomf creates narratives where organic and inorganic protagonists coexist, unfolding as spatial interventions, celebrations, multimedia works, and sustainable design prototypes.
Hypercomf’s recent works include Pytheas Travels (2023), a live audiovisual performance critiquing mass tourism’s impact on coastal cultures, presented in Oslo and Athens with music by Maja S.K. Ratkje; Film Seed Festival (2022), a crop-powered film festival on Tinos; Marine Caves and Benthic Terrazzo (2022–ongoing), a sustainable material project producing terrazzo tiles from shoreline plastic waste; and Anthemis, a digital herbarium of Syros flora with the Archipelago Network. In 2021, within La Table et le Territoire, Hypercomf launched Biosentinel.services, developing a mobile solar cooker and “Neighborhood Soda” wild yeast soda from foraged Athens plants.