The Coffin Project confronts the fragile balance between human existence and ecological decay.
It explores the entanglement of nature and human waste in a world dominated by overconsumption. Transparent coffins made of synthetic materials contain fragile ecosystems, soil, water, wilted plants, and industrial debris, functioning as both monuments of decay and symbols of resilience.
The project combines sculptural installation, video installation, performance, and an original music composition to create an immersive and emotional experience. Through this interdisciplinary approach, visitors are invited to engage with the work on both a sensory and reflective level.
The Coffin Project will premiere in a natural outdoor setting at Spoorpark, a public urban park in Tilburg, from September 4 to 6, with the support of the Municipality of Tilburg.
Expansive landscapes evoke both timelessness and desolation, providing a powerful context for the work and allowing visitors to experience it in direct connection with nature. The environment itself becomes an integral part of the installation, offering a natural stage for live performance.
On November 7 and 8, the project will be presented at Kunstscène in Tilburg, marking the first series of public presentations. From there, the project is set to travel internationally to museums, galleries, ecological institutions, and public spaces.
The project is realized with an international team including: Chara Palaiologou (music composition), Maria Sartzetaki, (choreographer) Nancy Papakonstantinou (Soprano), Eleni Kitaroudis (digital strategy), Ezra Schizzeti (artistic advisor), Ilias Karapanagiotis (production support)) Maarten Maas (project coordination).
Collaborations
The project remains open to collaborations with additional contributors, including filmmakers and other specialists, in order to further expand its scope and impact.
We actively welcome cultural institutions, partners, professionals, sponsors, and funding bodies to join this journey and support the realization of this project on an international scale.
An Interdisciplinary Installation with Music, Video- installation and Performance
The Coffin Project is a large-scale installation that confronts the fragile balance between nature and human consumption. Transparent coffins, made from synthetic materials, hold fragile ecosystems: soil with cacti, water with drifting particles, wilted leaves, metals, and discarded materials. Each coffin is both a monument to decay and a testament to resilience, symbolizing how nature struggles within a world overshadowed by human waste and industry.
The installation is accompanied by an original music composition, a performance, and a video installation that immerse the audience in a sensory and emotional experience. Through movement, sound, and close-up expressions, the performance reveals the tension between confinement and transformation, positioning the audience as both witness and participant. The sculptural element Pulse embodies the presence of human consciousness and heartbeat within The Coffin, acting as a subtle yet persistent signal of life.
The project will premiere in a natural outdoor setting at Spoorpark, Tilburg, from September 4 to 6, with the support of the Municipality of Tilburg. In this first presentation, the focus is placed on a single coffin, allowing for a more concentrated and intimate encounter with the work while emphasizing one manifestation of the larger project.
On November 7 and 8, The Coffin will be presented during Kunstscène Tilburg, marking the first series of public presentations. From there, the project is envisioned to travel internationally to museums, galleries, ecological institutions, and public spaces.
The Coffin Project is developed through a strong international and interdisciplinary collaboration:
Concept, Direction & Video Installation – Athanasia Iris
Music Composition – Chara Palaiologou
Choreography – Maria Sartzetaki
Soprano – Nancy Papakonstantinou
Digital Strategy & Communications – Eleni Kitaroudis
Artistic Advisor – Ezra Schizzeti
Production Support – Ilias Karapanagiotis
Project Coordinator – Maarten Maas
Together, we create a synthesis of visual art, sound, and performance that transforms the installation into an immersive and emotional resonant experience.
My artistic practice lies at the intersection of the human condition, ecological realities, and existential transformation. The Coffin is not a static artwork but an immersive environment where the boundaries between life and death, nature and artifice, decay and rebirth blur.
The coffin, traditionally a vessel of farewell, here becomes a symbol of transition: a transparent monument that forces us to look directly at what we normally hide. Each coffin holds a microcosm of human impact plastic, rusting machines, fragile organic matter and off course with the sculpture Pulse confronting us with the legacy of our choices.
Where my earlier project Still Humans examined the silent conformity of people within oppressive systems, this project shifts the focus to a wider urgency: nature itself, trapped within the remnants of our consumption. It is an emotional call to stop looking away, and to acknowledge both the destruction and the possibility of renewal.
The work unfolds through a modular structure, allowing for different site-specific presentations:
• Natural environments such as dunes and forests, where coffins are partially buried and transformed by weather and light.
• Museums and galleries, where the work takes on a monumental or clinical presence, echoing ritual and scientific observation.
• Urban interventions, where individual coffins appear in public space, disrupting daily life and provoking reflection.
Each presentation responds to its surroundings, allowing The Coffin to function both as an artwork and as an ecological barometer, addressing local realities while contributing to a broader dialogue on planetary fragility.
The project engages a diverse audience:
- Art institutions and galleries, encountering a visually and conceptually layered installation
- Environmentally engaged communities, where the work resonates as a reflection on human impact
- A wider public, drawn in by the immediacy and sensory experience of the work
- Educational contexts, where the installation fosters ecological awareness and critical dialogue
In a time of overconsumption and ecological exhaustion, this project is more than an artwork. It is a call for awareness, dialogue, and change.
By exposing the tension between decay and resilience, it transforms mourning into movement, and absence into presence.
The Coffin Project is not an end, but a beginning. An invitation to reflect on what we leave behind, how we relate to nature, and the future we create.
What remains when only consciousness and the pulse persist?
For more information about the Coffin Project please send an email to:
With Each Creation, Athanasia Iris Invites You to Explore the Infinite and Embrace the Mystery of Being Human.
Studio Carré 13, 5017 JE,
Tilburg, The Netherlands