on the occasion of the anniversary of the 200 years of Greek paranoia (1821-2021)
When I came to Greece in June 2021, I realized that this year was going to be special for me. My parents’ homeland celebrates 200 years since the Greek War of Independence (1821-2021).
At all the schools I went to, both in Greece and abroad, I recall seeing everywhere pictures depicting the great heroes of 1821. Our home library has always been home to many history books, comics and pieces of literature that describe the events that unfolded back then in great detail, all written by men.
I chose to develop a smartphone app that utilizes Augmented Reality to showcase my perception of Greece.
I figured AR would be the best way to go about it.
I am pleased how my project unfolds exclusively within a public digital space and doesn’t fit at a physical gallery. Like a piece of street art, in a peculiar way, my work involves and belongs to everyone.
Stasis hellas (hellas stands for Hellas, otherwise Greece) includes a number of original art pieces in the form of sculptures that work as modern tableau vivant. By using your mobile phone you can project those sculptures on any physical space around you, thus creating your own illusions.
I consciously chose to make a symbolic psychograph of the Greek race, to dwell
on some aspects of a familiar situation and, why not, to exorcise them.
Since I have not personally experienced the agon for Greek independence, I figured it would be better to create a whole new feeling that focuses on emotion.
My goal isn’t to indulge by describing another fairy tale by commenting upon but rather to make you think. I did not create a videogame, you don’t get to win points or make friends.
It about a drama in different acts, kicking off with DISCORD MON AMOUR!!, followed by ÉGALITÉ, WAR GAMES, LAND OF OPPORTUNITY, LAND HOMELANDS and last but not least BUΖΖΤOP LOVERS.
In DISCORD, MON AMOUR!! through the friendship of two friends, Ismael and Ulysses, I talk about a very distinctive behavior that affects humans like a disease. Discord overwhelms you and transforms you like a virus. Discord creates only monsters in prison.
For the male character in WAR GAMES I draw inspiration from my uncle (a retired officer of the Greek army) whom we visit every time we’re town. Although the main theme here is the relation between authority and military technology I chose not to depict the ones who are really behind and benefit from wars. Instead, I juxtapose two warrior figures, each standing for different war model. One already gone, a new kind, already rising.
After all, wars may end but hostility continues.
In LAND OF OPPORTUNITY, I poke fun at bureaucracy, xenomania, technocracy and finally at political European. The hidden art facts inside the drawers symbolize Occidental culture politics. On the backside Dolores Ibárruri’s graffiti travels us in times when political messages still meant something.
Try approaching and tapping the Greek character. Does he seem familiar?
I love Greece, exactly the way it is, for better or worse.
I’m not giving up. This festive year, I’m looking at myself in the mirror more persistently. I make my truth to be heard.Send your comments at info@stasishellas.gr or write on my social media. Be sure to take many pictures and capture videos with you and your friends. Use my app to create and live your OWN experience.
A direct reference to the rights individual women could never be absent from an art piece depicting Greek society. ÉGALITÉ is my response to patriarchy in our society. From 1821 ‘till recently, the mother, the female worker, the prostitute, etc were all in general classified as second-class citizens. The cut down olive trunk symbolizes death and rebirth.
The neck tattoo as a chronic denouncement of violence, barbarism and all forms of racism.
We often forget that we are a people of diaspora, therefore ecumenical. Nostalgia and Greek race go hand in hand. The travelers that jump out from the tattered carpet in LOST HOMELANDS are a reference on the many Greek men and women who were forced to abandon their homeland and become refugees. Therefore, how is it possible to remain indifferent in front of the souls that fight with the sea waves? .