A coffee break is a ritual in the research process performed by advisors and students where they meet to review the work of the latter. Far from being an egalitarian activity, a coffee break
is often an expression of an imbalanced power structure. The advisor is
dominant. More than half of post-graduate students suffer emotional exhaustion
or burnout – often resulting in poor academic performance and mental health problems.
Alexandra, Marko, and Pavis reverse the power dynamic of this convention by letting the stressed student explosively transform the liquid coffee into an original form.