thanos zakopoulos wraps charred pine tree in metallic mesh
At the Ekies All Senses Resort in Chalkidiki, Greece, a striking art installation by CTRLZAK’s Thanos Zakopoulos quietly emerges. Titled HO–MA–GE, a charred pine tree, stripped and sculpted, rises from the earth like a mythic relic. The site-specific work draws on natural decay and alchemical transformation, using fire and metallic mesh to pay tribute to the Mediterranean Pinus Pinea. The evocative installation engages visitors with its powerful presence and layered symbolism, offering a poetic commentary on resilience, ecological cycles, and the complex entanglement between humans and the natural world.
all images by Elias Joidos
HO–MA–GE emerges in ekies all senses resort in chalkidiki, greece
Thanos Zakopoulos, co-founder of Milan-based CTRLZAK Studio, is known for his multidisciplinary approach that combines art, design, and environmental research. In HO–MA–GE, he works with the memory of a real pine that died on the coastal site of the Greek resort, treating the loss as a catalyst. The trunk of the tree is carbonized through a controlled charring process reminiscent of Japanese Yakisugi, a preservation technique that serves as a visual metaphor, from fire comes endurance. Its absent canopy is delicately reimagined in oxidizing copper and brass mesh, suspended above like a ghostly crown, changing with time, weather, and air, it’s alive in its own way.
a striking art installation by CTRLZAK’s Thanos Zakopoulos quietly emerges
transformation through material memory and natural cycles
The work reflects Zakopoulos’s broader philosophical stance, his ‘creative naturalist’ perspective that interrogates the human-nature relationship through site-responsive installations and objects. Here, the material choices add ritualistic and regenerative qualities to the artwork. The pine’s needles and smaller branches return to the soil to nourish future growth, while the sculpted trunk becomes a memorial and a witness. As it weathers, the metallic foliage will develop a green-brown patina, inverting the destructive symbolism of fire into one of slow healing and transformation.
Set against the natural beauty of Ekies, a resort known for its biophilic design and ecological ethos, the installation becomes a living gesture woven into the daily rhythms of the landscape. It stands as a glowing reminder of the Mediterranean pine’s significance and fragility, especially in a region increasingly threatened by wildfire.
titled HO–MA–GE, a charred pine tree, stripped and sculpted, rises from the earth
the artwork resembles a mythic relic
the site-specific work draws on natural decay and alchemical transformation
using fire and metallic mesh to pay tribute to the Mediterranean Pinus Pinea
the evocative installation engages visitors with its powerful presence and layered symbolism
a poetic commentary on the complex entanglement between humans and the natural world
Thanos Zakopoulos works with the memory of a real pine that died on the coastal site of the Greek resort
treating the loss as a catalyst
project info:
name: HO–MA–GE
artist: Thanos Zakopoulos | @thanos_zakopoulos
location: Ekies All Senses Resort | @ekiesresort, Chalkidiki, Greece
photographer: Elias Joidos | @eliasjoidos
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