The Soft Power Lectures Show

Η σειρά performative διαλέξεων «The Soft Power Lectures», που διοργάνωσε η Προσωρινή Ακαδημία Τεχνών (ΠΑΤ ) στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος Actopolis του Ινστιτούτου Γκαίτε, ολοκληρώνει τον κύκλο της με το «The Soft Power Lectures Show» που θα πραγματοποιηθεί για ένα βράδυ την Τρίτη 31/5 στις 7 μ.μ. στο Γήπεδο Μπάσκετ του Παντείου Πανεπιστημίου (Ιππώνακτος 36, Ν. Κόσμος ).

Θα παρουσιαστούν ντοκουμέντα από τις μέχρι σήμερα διαλέξεις-performances αλλά και έργα προσκεκλημένων καλλιτεχνών. Αυτό το υλικό συνθέτει μια ιδιαίτερη αφήγηση γύρω από το Νότο και τα υποκείμενά του, που αντιτάσσεται στις στερεότυπες απεικονίσεις του.

Προσωρινή Ακαδημία Τεχνών (Ελπίδα Καραμπά, Γλυκερία Σταθοπούλου, Δέσποινα Ζευκιλή, Σοφία Ντώνα, Πάνος Σκλαβενίτης, Κωνσταντίνος Χατζηνικολάου )

The Soft Power Lectures, Βίντεο αρχεία, 2016.

Σοφία Ντώνα Soft Power Screening, 2016

Πάνος Σκλαβενίτης Οι Ανδρείοι της Ηδονής, 2016 Daysign: Αφηγήσεις γύρω από τον ελληνικό ήλιο, βιβλίο,  2016

Κωνσταντίνος Χατζηνικολάου Άσπα,  Σούπερ 8, 2014

Η Άσπα ανάβει ένα τσιγάρο, βιβλίο, 2014 Fire Walker 2, φιλμ Σούπερ 8, 2015 Ηλιοβασιλέματα, περφόρμανς για φιλμ & ήχο, 2016 Νίκος Αλεξόπουλος Σειρά Φωτογραφιών ΠΑΤ, 2016

Προσκεκλημένοι καλλιτέχνες

Στεφανία Αμπλιανίτη & Σταυρούλα Μωρακέα, Το δείπνο (Νίκη Καναγκίνη ), βίντεο σε επανάληψη 7’, 2015 Κωστής Βελώνης (διάλεξη) Σχεδιασμός γλυπτικής εκτάκτου ανάγκης, Άγγελος Κράλλης Workout, broadcast/radio installation, 90 Faggots, faggots!, ποίημα, 2015 Γιάννης Παπαδόπουλος, Εγκατάσταση, 2016 Θάλεια Ραυτοπούλου Η πίστα χορού, προσωρινή εγκατάσταση, 2016

Kostis Velonis, Help Desk Model, 2015

Wood, plywood, acrylic, felt

150 x 42 x 30 cm

Falling Triangles

Falling Triangles, 2016

(Based on Goeritz's “Torres Piramidales”)

Concrete, wood 

30 x 9 x 23 cm

Torres piramidales

Mathias Goeritz, Torres piramidales (maqueta), c.1965-70

Energy Policy and the Electrification of the Whole Country.

Amir Gadzhiev, illustration for a children's book, Gouache, ink, watercolor and whitewash on paper 20.5 x 17 cm, 1930.

modular modules mode

Short Life, Some Accommodation, 2013-15

Wood, plaster, acrylic, oil, pencil, dried leaves

60 x 70 x 42 cm

Ο επιμελητής της έκθεσης Αλέξιος Παπαζαχαρίας αναφέρει:

Η Ιωάννα Σπητέρη–Βεροπούλου γεννήθηκε, έζησε και εργάστηκε στη Βενετία, το Παρίσι και την Αθήνα. Υπήρξε σύζυγος του Τώνη Σπητέρη, ενός από τους πλέον σημαντικούς τεχνοκριτικούς διεθνώς. Σε μια αδιάκοπη καλλιτεχνική πορεία που θα διαρκέσει σχεδόν πενήντα χρόνια (μέχρι το θάνατό της το 2000 στην Αθήνα) η Ιωάννα Σπητέρη-Βεροπούλου θα συμμετάσχει σε διεθνείς διοργανώσεις και θα αποσπάσει σημαντικές διακρίσεις, όπως στην Μπιενάλε του Σάο Πάουλο στη Βραζιλία το 1963 στην οποία το έργο της τιμήθηκε με το β' βραβείο γλυπτικής και θα εκθέσει κυρίως στην Ευρώπη δίπλα σε σπουδαίους καλλιτέχνες όπως ο Emilio Vedova και ο Fritz Wotruba. Η καλλιτεχνική της γραφή ιδιότυπη και σε συνεχή διάλογο με τις διεθνείς καλλιτεχνικές τάσεις θα διαμορφωθεί από την προσεκτική μελέτη του αφηρημένου εξπρεσιονισμού, τάση την οποία θα ακολουθήσει μετακινώντας σταδιακά το ενδιαφέρον της από την εξπρεσιονιστική χειρονομία στην αφαιρετική λογική. Από τη δεκαετία του '70 οι απλές γεωμετρικές φόρμες και οι δυναμικές συνθέσεις αυτών θα αποτελέσουν χαρακτηριστικό της γλυπτικής της. Μεγάλη σημασία θα αποκτήσει σταδιακά η σχέση του γλυπτού με τον περιβάλλοντα χώρο του: συνδέσεις, σχήματα, όγκοι, χώροι, φως, σκιές, και μεγέθη οργανώνονται από την Ιωάννα Σπητέρη-Βεροπούλου σε έργα που οι κλίμακες τους ποικίλουν από αυτό που σχεδόν χωράει σε μια χούφτα, έως αυτό που θα σταθεί σε εξωτερικό χώρο με διαστάσεις μνημείου αλλά διάθεση λιγότερο μνημειακή και περισσότερο ρυθμική, μουσική, οργανωτική και αφηγηματική· όχι σε σχέση με την ιστορία αλλά σε σχέση με το τι σημαίνει μοντέρνα γλυπτική και σύγχρονη τέχνη.

Οι οκτώ καλλιτέχνες, απ’ όσο ξέρω, ελάχιστα γνωρίζουν το έργο της Σπητέρη. Γνωρίζουν ωστόσο όλοι σίγουρα το εργαστήριο της στο 8 της οδού Κυψέλης, το μυθικό πια μικρό κτίριο του Αριστομένη Προβελέγγιου στο κέντρο της Αθήνας, έξοχο δείγμα μοντέρνας αρχιτεκτονικής. Στο εργαστήριο αυτό δούλεψε η Σπητέρη και άλλοι καλλιτέχνες, ανάμεσά τους και η Διοχάντη, με τη βοήθεια της οποίας

πραγματοποιείται η παρούσα έκθεση. Η έκθεση δεν έχει στόχο να ερευνήσει ή να αποκαλύψει συνέχειες που βασίζονται σε ευθείες γραμμές ιστορικών αξόνων, αλλά περισσότερο να δει τα έργα και τις εποχές σαν συναρμογές από αρθρώσεις και σπονδύλους όπου τα ερωτήματα περιστρέφονται περισσότερο γύρω από τη συνύπαρξη, τη συμβίωση, τη συγκατοίκηση, τη λειτουργία ή τη λειτουργικότητα και λιγότερο γύρω από καταβολές και καταγωγές, επιρροές ή συναντήσεις.

Στην έκθεση παρουσιάζονται έργα της Ιωάννας Σπητέρη - Βεροπούλου και των Αντωνάκη, Κωστή Βελώνη, Ηλία Κοέν, Ντόρα Οικονόμου, Νάνα Σαχίνη, Σοφία Σημάκη, Πέτρο Τουλούδη, Marc Charpentier.

10 Μαίου 2016 - 11 Ιουνίου 2016

Eleftheria Tseliou gallery, Αθηνα

The Architecture of the Barricade

In the 19th century, the "century of the barricade", building a barricade could bring down a state. Today, however, a barricade cannot rely solely on itself as-architecture, (or 'as-object') for the interruption of order and the creation of exceptional space.  Not only are battlegrounds and the lines that define them are increasingly blurred, but progressions in technology, control and surveillance mean that, with ease, state forces could destroy all that a traditional barricade could materially ‘stand’ for : by tank, by drone or by camera.

During the talk, we’ll explore the barricade as a disobedient object on the battleground of the city, going through barricade archetypes in terms of their architectural form and their urban strategy. I’ll try to show how the barricade has developed from ‘stopping’ or ‘blockading’ movement to moving in and of itself, how it's spatial quality has moved from the 'static' to the nomadic.

We’ll then look at how the barricade is as much about the bodies upon it as about the form it takes, or, the relationship between insurgent objects and insurgent subjects. I’ll try to show how, in the material sense, the insurgent uses the barricade as both offensive intervention and defensive protection, but also how, in the immaterial sense, the insurgent uses the barricade as both spectacular symbol and rhetorical device. I’ll try to show how subjects and objects come together as-barricade, and how in losing power as one or the other, they gain insurgent potential in the ambiguous space between the two.

We’ll hopefully see how the barricade is as much about what it is as about what it does, as much an object as it is an subject, as much a noun as it is a verb.

The Architecture of the Barricade - part of Anti University Now Festival

Facilitated by Charlotte Grace.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Open School East - 43 De Beauvoir Road, London, N1 5SQ, United Kingdom

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-architecture-of-the-barricade-part-of-anti-university-now-festival-tickets-25057610989#listing-organizer

Chronicle of an Affair

MARGRET S. (Margret – Chronicle of an Affair ), 1970/9/15, 1970 vintage print, 10.5 x 7.5 cm, Qbox Gallery

Margret – Chronicle of an Affair consists of a rediscovered compilation of photographs, typewritten personal notes and objects, documenting with precision the secret love affair, which lasted from May 1969 to December 1970, of the Cologne businessman Günter K. and his much younger secretary, Margret S. Günter’s obsession is evident in the hundreds of photographs he took of his mistress in sexy poses as well as in his preservation of the plushly furnished apartment above the company office which functioned as their love nest. Among the photographs are also images of her clothes, which he gave to Margret as presents or which she brought from home to please Günter, as well as charming photos of their little getaways. In addition to the photographs, he collected tickets, her pubic hair and pill packs – souvenirs of a manic, forbidden love.

Evidence of Absences

A show that exists but isn't there

In the term "unrealized" there is a space between the particle ‘un-’ and the verb: the projects that are donated to MoRE, which aims to archive, guard, disseminate and possibly relaunch said works, fall into a place of suspension, between surrender and waiting. Regardless of the cause, an unconcluded project lives in a undetermined condition: it exists but isn’t really there.

We tend to give a negative connotation to all that remains unfinished, unfulfilled, not built (even not said), because it reminds us of a loss in terms of opportunity, energy, of an object, an intangible asset, the loss of a value. A loss - a term used in physics, geography and technology, in medicine, in economics and the military - doesn’t necessarily entail a disaster, although it is very close to one. During the 80s, when Vito Acconci started to focus his attention on environmental and architectural projects, reaching extreme limits in his research on body and space, his ultimate goal was never its fulfilment. "I don’t even know if I can say that our goal was to build projects. If that was our goal, then we’ve clearly failed". In planning and the “unbuildable”, Acconci sees the possibility to re-examine not the past but the 'things that have yet to come'. It is as if, without the pressure to be successful at all costs, the energy invested in an unrealized project flows towards different directions leading to new ideas and outcomes.

Two artists I had invited to donate a project refused to do so. Their motives can be summarized as follows: not all projects contain a medium to high risk margin and the artist's tenacity is crucial; The artist ends up with a work and inferior ideas die in the process.

The strength of Vladimir Tatlin's Monument at the Third International (1920), lies in its being more than its actual existence, in the insights that the project contained - first and foremost that art should be informative - and in general in the Constructivist considerations on sculpture during the 60s (Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt), the architecture, the city (especially in the 80s), and finally the communication between members of the international community. We must therefore continue to regard unrealized projects as bearers of aesthetic values, as editable, able to be rethought and versatile. And especially in this day and age, shareable.

The Aeromodeller (1969-1971) conceived by Panamarenko was never launched: when on June 6 1971, the artist and a group of assistants began to fill the balloon with hydrogen gas, the goal was to fly the airship from the fields outside of Antwerp. The danger of an explosion from the highly inflammable gases was aggravated by the blustering wind and by the balloon's constant flipping broadside into the gale due to certain navigational limitations of the design. Fearing a full-on disaster, Panamarenko with a pair of scissors slashed into the balloon to release the dangerous gases. In this last example, the risk of not succeeding is very much part of the project and the non-operational nature of the artist's flight device can be read as part of its intended beauty.

Curated by Elena Lydia Scipioni

Artists: Mathis Collins, Maria Adele Del Vecchio, Ibro Hasanović, G. Küng, Sandro Mele, Kostis Velonis.

MoRE Museum- A museum of refused and unrealised art projects 

http://www.moremuseum.org/omeka/items/browse?collection=52

http://www.moremuseum.org/omeka/

The Dome is Home--South Pole history 1975-90

http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/history/history.html 

Beyond Immaterialism: Parallels between Judeo Christian doctrine and Contemporary Art.

Human culture is shifting from material to immaterial. I am going to suggest that this is related to man's fear of nature. This fear, has got a pattern. It becomes more obvious in periods and areas with scarce resources or under strain. Less apparent in groups of people emerging from crisis. It manifests itself as an aversion to material objects. This text will try to explain how this phenomenon substantiates in the field of modern art and by comparing art with other faces of culture, will make a case that the art world is largely unaware of this condition.

Revolution against Nature

Let’s take a look into the Bible, the bestselling book of all time. What's groundbreaking about the bible is that it provides its readers with a new way of living. A way, rid of material pleasures and pains, a way more economical and efficient. A common pattern throughout the Old and New Testament is swapping the material with the immaterial. The material is usually represented as evil and the immaterial as good. The examples are many. In Genesis a world of plenty (Eden) is swapped with a world of scarcity. The source of temptation is an animal. From the very beginning there is an association of Nature with the unattainable, but also an association of nature with evil(snake). A counteract to man’s sense of futility upon confronting the natural world.

In Leviticus a manual for social operating (or God’s contract with Israel if you prefer), there is a list of animals that are considered unclean. In the Book Of Job, Leviathan, a crocodile (or hippo), represents the darkness of the physical world. In Jonah, one of the most popular tales, the hero is swallowed by a giant fish and surviving the encounter with the animal provides the supernatural core of the story.

“And they shall no more offer their sacrifice unto devils… “

Leviticus 17:7

In this particular verse, “devils” is a translation of the Hebrew word sairrim which literally means wild goats.* In order to make the swap from material to immaterial more effective, the editors of the Bible (composing the Old Testament at around 400b.c.) borrowed a concept from the Persians. Good and evil.

“… the Persians had become the dominant nation in Asia, and Persian thought would be expected to be very influential among all nations which, like Judah, were under Persian rule. Persian religion had just been systematized by a great prophet, Zarathustra (Zoroaster), at about the time of the return from Babylonian captivity, and the earth rang, so to speak, with the new doctrine. Zoroastrianism offered a dualistic view of the universe. There was a principle of good, Ahura-Mazda (or Ormuzd), and a principle of evil, Ahriman, which were viewed as virtually independent of each other and very nearly equal.”**

The dualistic good-evil concept made life easier to explain and added an element of excitement and drama in storytelling. Nowhere before 1 Chronicles is Satan mentioned, but after that he regularly appears introducing worldly vices to various characters, including Jesus Christ.

Text by Teo Michael

Published on the June 2011 issue of online art magazine kaput.gr

More : http://theomichael.com/Beyond-Immaterialism