In Mani, I felt conflict. Watching the sea, my eyes looked out over the open expanse and calmed me, then I turned towards the towers and imagined razor blades rising upwards in the sky. Peaceful and vast landscapes against sharp and piercing lines. [...] If I could describe Mani in a few words, these would be: enclosed landscapes and vast seas, pikes and angles, shadows and light, stone that scorches during the summer and freezes during the winter, rocks and rocks again, stone on stone, acts of God and human acts, barren land, olive groves and gardens, raging winds, vicious waves, ever present history, sharp people, reserved dispositions, Faith and Freedom. (from the foreword of Andreas Smaragdis)