The initial idea in this series of projects developed during Zafeiropoulos study in the School of Visual Arts in New York came about in response to a weather forecast announced from local broadcasts and the daily press on September 25th2007, indicating that a hurricane was about to strike the metropolitan area of New York City. Although the hurricane never reached the city, the failed forecast had two unpredictable consequences according to the artist: `Millions of citizens in response to the menace were sealing and securing all fragile glass surfaces on their property and trying to protect their belongings using primarily duct-tape.` Due to high consumption of this easy to find material, the selling price of duct tape increased tremendously, while such uncontrolled consumption `further inflated the price, and occasionally led to the phenomena of black market activities and empty shelves in many local hardware stores.` This observation initiated the first project.

Please Insulate me

In the first step of the project the artist created an installation in his studio in New York using large amounts of duct-tape on both the walls and the floor.

Please Insulate Me 2007 from Theodoros Zafeiropoulos on Vimeo

Please Moisturize me

In a second stage of development, and facing the problem of how to preserve, or maintain this `body,` the artist decided to re-size the installation with the use of a common heat gun to be found in any hardware store.

Please Moisturize me 2008  from Theodoros Zafeiropoulos on Vimeo

Please Participate me

The leftover material from the previous installation was isolated and collected. The studio was filled with this material and turned into a photo booth. Sixty-one students of the MFA program were invited to act inside the booth according to a pre-described set of rules.The material became a `tool` in the hands of others, while the artist turned into the passive observer who organizes and establishes the rules of the process. `The community-socialized material` resulted in a series of documented performances.

Please Participate Me 2008 from Theodoros Zafeiropoulos on Vimeo

Please Maintain me (The final installation)

The leftover material, a pile of shredded pieces of `overused,` melted plastic combined with a layer of dried solid baby powder has been subsequently pulverizedfor further use. The space turned into a hermetically sealed room, a `dust container` that preserved and recalled the traces of the previous stages of the project.

Please Maintain Me 2009 from Theodoros Zafeiropoulos on Vimeo

More information about Thodoris Zafeiropoulos and his artistic endeavors can be found at his official website: http://www.theodoroszafeiropoulos.com/