Maria Varela: "And so much intensity in Greek phraseology", 2013

"The project 'And so much intensity in Greek phraseology' is an artistic research on Cavafy's phraseology. The particular linguistic behavior of Cavafy, a mix of dialects, shapes his unique poetic world.

For the research of this project, the text in total of his 150 recognized works is translated to a database and through an algorithmic mechanism the repeated words are identified. These words serve as metadata and their frequency creates a "word cloud".

In this way while the poet's phraseology is recorded as an independent tool, simultaneously the repeated words could be characterized as the kernel of Constantine Cavafy's mythology.

The words that a poet chooses is the structural material of his/her creative production. On the other hand the words repeated throughout the work are those that express parts of his psyche, visions, ideals or obsessions while are elements which reflect the social conditions beneath which he lived and created.

While the video lists the words, the design parameters of the image composition are determined by the frequency appearing in the whole of Cavafy’s text.

The non-structured narrative and the semantic game which is created lead to a redefinition of the linguistic material.

The title 'And so much intensity in Greek phraseology' is a verse from Constantine Cavafy’s poem 'This One' (1909)."

—Maria Varela