"Glωssic Isnaf" by WordMord (2023) is a tentacular work in the public space of the castle and lakeside of Ioannina city in north-western Greece. The work consists of a sound and sculptural installation, a video and a performance.
The fields of our research for this project are the Ioannina linguistic idiom and the amalgam of languages that includes greek, turkish, albanian, vlach and hebrew, as well as the relationship of the city's history with the Lake Pamvotis and the local tanneries.
Through the study of myths, fairy tales, songs and historical/journalistic events of the Ioannina region, we have traced gendered elements concerning the relationship between human and more-than-human forms of life. Using artistic and queer feminist methodologies to deconstruct hegemonic language, we created a narrative in which the non-binary creature, Isnaf, is born/reproduced at the bottom of the lake Pamvotis.

Pamvotida, "the one that feeds everything" is renamed ‘Λιμνήμη’ (‘mnemopond’) by WordMord. The word ‘Λιμνήμη’ is an invented collage word which consists of the words 'Λίμνη' which in greek means 'lake' and 'μνήμη' that means 'memory' ). Through its watery materiality,  ‘Λιμνήμη’ absorbs and holds the memory of the stories, voices and sounds of the city. The language spoken by the creature Isnaf is embodied and hybrid, connected to the materialities of the ‘Λιμνήμη’ (‘mnemopond’), and is focused on rhythm and voice.
In the sound work we created hybrid voices using machine learning and sound processing algorithms.

The installation of the work exposes remnants of animal hides from the tanneries that operated in the city until 1970.
The site-specific performance entitled „Λιμνήμη, Λιμνήμη, Λιμνήμη (fugitive paths and stormy threads)“ consists of a route that includes three nodes, starting from the Byzantine tower, passing through the castle gate where the video projection, the sound and sculptural installation "Glωssic Isnaf" are located, to conclude at the lakefront.

The work is commissioned by Onassis Stegi Cultural Center for the “Plásmata ΙΙ: Ioannina” exhibition.
Fotos by Pinelopi Gerasimou for Onassis Stegi.

“Glωssic Isnaf” by WordMord
2023
Sound, sculpture, and performative installation
Video: HDV, colour, mute. Duration: 43 min 37 sec
Duration of the sound work: 53 min 43 sec

PROJECT PROCESSING AND RESEARCH: WORDMORD_GLΩSSIC ISNAF TENTACLE (FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS AKA V STYLIANIDOU, OÝTO ȦROGNOS AKA STYLIANOS BENETOS, CHRISTINA KARAGIANNI)
FIELD RESEARCH AND NARRATION: FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS, OÝTO ȦROGNOS
PERFORMANCE APPAREL AND PERFORMANCE DESIGN: WORDMORD_GLΩSSIC ISNAF TENTACLE
PERFORMANCE APPAREL DESIGN ADVISOR: KALLIA KEFALA
GENERAL ADVISOR: VALIA PAPASTAMOU
PERFORMERS: FOTINI STAMATELOPOULOU, NEFELI MYRTIDI, OÝTO ȦROGNOS, FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS
SOUND AND VIDEO: FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS AKA V STYLIANIDOU
VOCALS AND PERFORMATIVE RECORDING: KOMMINUTERAS TENTACLE (FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS, OÝTO ȦROGNOS, CHRISTINA KARAGIANNI)
DRUMS, KEYBOARDS, SOUND EDITING: FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS
ΑLGORITHMIC SOUND DESIGN PROCESSES / CONVERSION TO 5.1. SURROUND SOUND: IOANNIS NIOZAS
VIDEO EDITING: DIMITRA CHARIZANI, FRANCK-LEE ALLI-TIS
FIELD RECORDING IN THE AREA OF IOANNINA: DIMITRIS KARAGEORGOS
LEATHER TRACING: KONSTANTINOS ZISOS, XENOFON BAZAS
LEATHER CLEANING / PERFORMANCE APPAREL CREATION: KONSTANTINOS ZISSOS
T-SHIRT PRODUCTION: TRIKOPLEX SA, DESPINA STYLIANIDOU, ANASTASIA ANTONIADOU, ELENI AKEPSOMAIDOU
LEATHER PERFORATION: EVANGELOS MANOUSSIS (LASERCUTTER GREECE, IOANNINA)
DURING OUR ON-SITE AND ONLINE RESEARCH, WE HAD THE PLEASURE OF DISCUSSING WITH:
DIMITRA ALEXIOU, RODI DEDEOGLOU, GIORGOS EFTHYMIOU, ALEXANDRA FRIGA, KATERINA GEORGOULA, VIVIAN GIOURI, MICHALIS HATZIS, SOFRONIA KAPSALI-PAPAZOGLOU, DANTE KOTSINAS, ELIAS KOULIAKIOTIS, ELISAVET LAZAROU, LEFTERIS LAZAROU, ALLEGRA MATSA, MARILENA PAPACHRISTOFOROU, ANASTASIA PAPAZOGLOU, KONSTANTINA PASHOU, ZOI PLACHOURA, LEFTERIS PLACHOURAS, KONSTANTINOS PRODROMOU, ANNA PRODROMOU-TSIRAKOGLOU, PERIKLIS RITAS, ANNA SIDNIKOVA, DRETIM TSARSIA, DORA ZOUMBA, ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN IN NEOCAESAREA, AND MAN FROM THESSALONIKI IN “NAFTAKIA/SAILORS”