RESEARCH | INSTALLATION

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TITLE: “PARALYSIS: DUTY OR NEGLECT?”

YEAR: 2024 

MATERIAL USED: RUSTY METAL FOUND IN A SHIP GRAVEYARD.

TECHNIQUES: COLLECTING AND ENGRAVING.

DIMENSIONS: VARIOUS

EXHIBITION:  "THE URBAN MUSEUM OF ELEFSINA" - CHORUS, GREECE

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“PARALYSIS: DUTY OR NEGLECT?” WAS DEVELOPED IN ELEFSINA (ELEUSIS), IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL ARTIST ANTIGONE KOOTALIEPI, WHOSE WORDS AND EXPERIENCE ALLOWED A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY OF THIS URBAN SPACE. ELEFSINA IS A REGION MARKED IN HISTORY BY THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES, THAT WOULD BRING PILGRIMS FROM ATHENS TO ELEFSINA TO BE INITIATED TO A CULT OF DEMETER, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SANCTUARIES IN ANCIENT GREECE. A HERITAGE THAT IS BEING SLOWLY DESTROYED BY THE COUNTRY’S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, WITH DOZENS OF POLLUTING INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS 2 REFINERIES, 2 SHIPYARDS, 2 STEEL FACTORIES, 2 CEMENT FACTORIES AND DOZENS OF OTHER INDUSTRIES IN THE SECONDARY SECTOR, OF SMALL OR MEDIUM IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, THAT MAKE 30% OF GREECE GDP. THE WORK EXPLORES THE IDEA OF PARALYSIS AS A SENSATION FELT BY THE LOCAL COMMUNITY REGARDING THE INACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO RESOLVE A CULTURAL PROBLEM THAT LED TO LOSS, SHAME, AND ANESTHESIA TO PAIN AS THE HEALTH CRISIS FACED BY FAMILIES, DUE TO BEING IN SUCH POLLUTED PLACE, IS SILENCED. IN THIS DISCUSSION BETWEEN DUTY OR NEGLECT, THE WORK REPOSSESSION THE RUSTY MATTER LEFT BY THE SHIP GRAVEYARD, TRANSFORMING IT IN POSTCARDS AND SOUVENIRS FROM ELEFSINA. IN IT ARE ENGRAVED IMAGES OF THE FACTORIES AND URBAN LANDSCAPES OF THE ANTHROPHOCENE, WITH THE AIM TO BE SENT OFF, OUTSIDE OF THE CITY, TO THE OWNERS OF THE TITAN CEMENT FACTORY, THE MUNICIPALITY MANAGEMENT, AND THE STATUS QUO. IN THIS PLAY OF TOURISTIC IMAGERY OR PRECONCEVED OUTSIDERS' LOOK INTO GREEK CULTURE, A MESSAGE IS PASSED BY ANTIGONE AS A WAY TO BE HEARED, IN A PLACE THAT SHE STILL CALLS HOME.