“Oil on greenhouse plastic window screen”
Plastic greenhouse screens, painting oil, electronic music
Audiovisual installation, variable dimensions, 2022-2023
The work came as an answer to an uncomfortable situation I felt called as an artist to
“resolve”. At a remote region of Crete, where I usually isolate my self to work during
summer, I had to manage a contradiction I was experiencing. Οn the one hand, the aesthetic
disharmony caused by cheap plastic non recyclable or re-usable materials made
greenhouses, dominating the scenery to an extreme. On the other hand, the feeling of
gratitude springing out of the awareness that this intense agricultural activity is what is
keeping the place financially independent and thus free from extreme tourist exploitation
and the permanent natural destruction it would cause. I got the material from the local
agricultural supplies stores and worked on it hanging it from the trees in the garden of the
village house I was living, turning it into psychedelic veils that blend harmonically into the
natural environment, rather functioning as…aesthetic amplifiers of its revitalizing energy.
The sound of the installation also pays a tribute to the psychedelic sounds of the Greek
countryside.
September New Moon rituals / Offerings to mother Earth
Fallen in pieces due to hard work and personal issues, I came to my island-foster home-refuge, to calm down. But the tragedy that stroke our nature and people living by it, broke all of our hearts and didn’t let this happen.
I had big plans, to wright a lot of music, to do a lot of art, and instead, I was just trying to exist.
And then, little by little, I got some clay in my hands. No ambitions, more like to heal. So therapeutic, this malleable, wet, tender earth, even to me, that lives for salty water.
Little by little, small ancient organic shapes started molding in my hands. Little by little, they were quite a few. Little by little, they asked for colour. I painted them. Little by little, I started growing strong.
Tonight, the night before the new moon of the ninth month, September, the month of the Earth, I offer to Earth nine of these clay creatures. Symbolically and emphatically, as a thank you and as a wish, for her to heal her wounds.
This is a raw documentation video, with my music coming from a small tired speaker. If you wish, add your wish for the Earth to this little magic ceremony.
PS: This is the first summer in this island-foster home of mine, that I didn’t see not a drop of rain. I always remember, in-between the heat, liberating rain washing and cooling everything, inside out. This year, even the tamarisk trees where thirsty. I have never seen thirsty tamarisks before.
After tonight’s little magic ceremony, as soon as the candles were off, a soft like α cuddle rain started falling :)
A 5th Element / audiovisual installation-live music performance at a river, in the frame of "Live like a mountain" project powered by NEON
I died so many times that I became Immortal / installation live music performance
IT IS STRAWBERRY FIELDS AND IT IS FOREVER (AND WHEN I'M IN DOUBT THERE'S A STRIKE THAT BRINGS IT BACK TOGETHER /audiovisual installation
Dolce Vita/ Make A Wish / In the darkest hours/ Don't you see the bliss
A performative audiovisual installation
A surreally landed onto the athenian present reference to the Rome situated famous fountain -where people are supposed to throw
coins to have their wish fullfilled- and to Felini's Dolce Vita.
THE DEATH OF AN EMOTIONAL REPLICANT
performance/installation taken place at the entrance of Openshowstudio as part of the Vitrina Project, onJuly 2010, in Athens // a praise to emotional intelligence as a way towards emancipation. A reference to the science fiction mythology of Replicas (human like robots) growing emotional intelligence and thus being unable to keep completing their manufacturers' will, a fact that led to a rebellion against them.
UNMONUMENTAL
a series of large dimensions audiovisual installations whose very existence lies in the experiensed relationship with the public rather than their material maintenance in time
YOUTH ELIXIR 4AL
Openshowstudio is organizing a series of artistic co-operative actions, at some of the finest and most beloved Greek beaches*, underlying their no-money-can-buy precious value as a public good. A playful tribute trip to the Greek seashore, our reference point, our greatest common love.
On: Summer ’14.
concept/ organising by Sofia Touboura
*now included in a “for sale” state catalogue
UNVEILING
An underwater performance at the open sea of Ag. Anna, at Marianna wreck, a cargo ship sank on 1981 after crashing on to a reef.
The performance came as a symbolic statement, underlying the great attraction value of the hidden Aegean underwater monuments, as another alternative of mild cultural touristic development.
Underwater joined performance in co-operation with Aimy Palogiannidou
CONCRETE
An underwater sculpture installation at the seabed of Ag. Prokopios, at the side of the rocks where landforms and fauna become very interesting. The sculptures resemble coral forms and are made out of concrete.
The public installation is a symbolic statement in favor of the public nature of the foreshore.
Concrete, although non toxic as a material, is because of its abuse perceived as linked to a misconceived, environmentally and aesthetically destructive development. This alternative artistic use of concrete was thus selected as a symbolic counter, as a reference to the option of a positive, gentle and harmonious development of coastal life and activities, and by extension a harmonious coexistence of nature and human culture.
Sculptures were visible by snorkeling from above and scuba diving from all angles and remained exhibited at the seabed of Agios Prokopios, in public view. Their color and texture change caused by the sea water, which will gradually “tune” them with their new environment, will be observed in the course of time.
Scultpure and concept by Sofia Touboura.