Towards the Bank of the Future, 2013 at Visual Dialogues 2013

Theo Prodromidis
Towards the Bank of the Future
2K, stereo, 7'30"

2013

© courtesy of the artist 2013

"Towards the Bank of the Future" observes and engages with two conceptual axes.

The first axis derives from the analysis of Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, where Aristotle presents the problematic of a definition of the "work of man". As the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben comments "the aim of such a definition is the designation of the ultimate good (Agathon) as a subject of political science, in relation to which the engagement with ethics, operates as a form of introduction. This ultimate good is happiness".

In Cavafy's work, one can locate this engagement, between the ethical and aesthetic operation of man and specifically of the creator of work.

In the same way that Aristotle sets the work of man in motion, this form of a life that is activated by the operation of Logos, Cavafys repositions life, or a form of life at least, in the sphere of History, a history of action, an action beyond a simple livelihood (ζῆν).

Cavafys in a way that is essentially modern, and with modernity being clearly visible in the formal qualities of his body of work, describes, and thus positions in the sphere of aesthetics, actions and events taken from both the historical and the everyday, and thus elevates them in forms that while they are located in the common, they are set in motion by the sublime.

At this exact point, the work "Towards the Bank of the Future" focuses on the second axis, on the concept of historicity, thus the specific position and use of History in the work of Cavafys. The poet frequently narrates in his works, of a man who is historically located either in the classical or the modern times.

What is always underlying and gives the work its characteristic force, are these historical moments that one can come in relation to in Cavafy's poetry, moments that usually overturn established political and social orders. And while the narration revolves around the tangible and the everyday, the historical position is always a key element for both the semiotic and experiential engagement with the poem.

The above element is the one that transforms the work of Cavafys to a significant moment of modernity in poetry. The displaced historicity of the form, where the atemporal collides with the historical.

http://www.sgt.gr/en/programme/event/1352

Visual Dialogues 2013 at Plato's Academy, Athens, organised by Onassis Cultural Centre

Visual Dialogues 2013

November 7th, 2013 – January 7th, 2014

Visual Dialogues 2013 leave the confines of the OCC to transform Plato’s Academy Leisure Park into an ideal space for exhibiting works inspired by the great Greek poet, C.P. Cavafy.
Visual Dialogues 2013 is a project, organized for the third time by the Onassis Cultural Centre, with the purpose to build a communication bridge with the audience in public spaces of Athens, suggesting to Athenians a different viewpoint of their city through art.

On the occasion of the celebrating year 2013, which marks both the 150th anniversary of C.P. Cavafy’s birth and the 80th anniversary of his death, Visual Dialogues 2013 aspire to constitute a reflection on how the great poet deals with, interprets, evaluates and “transfers” the Ancient Greek Thought’s heritage in his era.

Within this framework, 10 contemporary, young artists, who work with digital image, were invited to approach through their artistic language C.P. Cavafy’s oeuvre by creating completely new, original works produced with new media technologies (video, animation, etc.).

In the attempt to create a dialogue between Greek and foreign artists, and as an hommage to the cosmopolitan character of C.P. Cavafy’s life and work, among this
year’s participations there are three foreign artists and a large number of Greeks, permanently living and working abroad.

The ten, in total, digital artworks are shown inside self-contained architectural structures standing in the Plato’s Academy Leisure Park, designed especially to fit in with the Park’s natural surroundings.

The presented artworks will be the following:

Athanasios Argianas
Pinna, 2013
Marianna Christofides
Here let me stand, 2013
Joana Hadjithomas – Khalil Joreige
I stared at beauty so much..., 2013
Rick Myers
An Excavation / A Reading (Before the Statue of Endymion)
Theo Prodromidis
Towards the Bank of the Future, 2013
Bill Psarras
Urban Halo, 2013
Erica Scourti
Out of Time, 2013
Yorgos Taxiarchopoulos
Oracle, 2013
Yiannis Theodoropoulos
Antioch, 2013
Maria Varela
And so much intensity in Greek phraseology, 2013

Plato’s Academy Leisure Park
Exhibition curator: Marilena V. Karra
Exhibition’s Duration: November 7th, 2013 – January 7th, 2014
Opening Hours: Mon – Sun 12.00-18.00
Free Admission

It is worth noting, that the work by Katerina Athanasopoulou, “Apodemy”, which was commissioned by OCC and was first presented at Visual Dialogues 2012 at Plato’s Academy Leisure Park, was awarded with the internationally acclaimed Lumen Prize on October 8, 2013. This prize is awarded annually and it aims to bring out the best digital works internationally.

“Visual Dialogues” are implemented in the framework of the project “Greek Cogitation Colloquia: Experiential Learning Programs” as part of the action “Academy of Plato – The city and the citizen”. The project "Greek Cogitation Colloquia: Experiential Learning Programs" has been designed by the Onassis Cultural Centre – Non Profit Organization and is implemented in collaboration with the National University of Athens. The project is co-financed by European Social Fund and National funds through the Operational Programme Education and Lifelong Learning.

This project, focused on Education and Lifelong Learning for people of all ages, aspires to open up new avenues of thought on issues of global and diachronic interest through a wide range of experiential activities, focusing on the Greek way of thinking and the "Academy of Plato".  Leading thinkers, scholars, scientists, artists and intellectuals from around the world are participating in public debates, educational programs, workshops and experiential learning programs targeted to the Hellenism, the City and the Citizen.

  

Find further information: www.sgt.gr, press@sgt.gr 

http://www.sgt.gr/en/programme/event/1352

info and installation shots of Towards the production of Dialogues On The Market Of Bronze and Other Precious Materials, 2013 from AGORA, 4th Athens Biennale

AGORA Guide text:


The video installation “Towards the production of Dialogues On The Market Of Bronze and Other Precious Materials” has as a starting point of reference Bertolt Brecht's The Messingkauf Dialogues, a theoretical work in a dialectical form that dates back to 1939 and was written in four different versions in a period of four years but remained incomplete.The work situates a re-interpreted version of Brecht’s work, connected to the socio-economic circumstances regarding contemporary society and the implications that these may cause, in the structures of a monetary policy, and its reverberations in the cultural sphere.
Based on Brecht’s four nights’ structure the artist aims to provoke correlations regarding two structures, the structure of politics and the structure of finance using their architectural form and specificities as a visual starting point. The work motivates the viewer to contemplate all the above elements in a manner that the aesthetic experience of viewing it produces a platform for the critical engagement of the spectator with the socio-political signifiers that are presented.
Theo Prodromidis’s video installation has a specific social context, to collective and private experiences as a consequence of politico-economic and political-cultural locations that are densified in a narrativized, critical and poetic process.


-Katerina Nikou

© courtesy of the artist and Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre, 2013

Theo Prodromidis
Towards the production of Dialogues On The Market Of Bronze and Other Precious Materials
2013
4 screen synchronised HD video installation, surround sound, 16min.
copper, metal, wood.

actress PINELOPI TSILIKA
actor ANDREAS KONSTANTINOU
dramaturg NIKOLAS HANAKOULAS
philosopher SPYROS TEGOS As Himself
electrician ALEXANDROS MAVROPOULOS

writer-director THEO PRODROMIDIS
director of photography KONSTANTINOS KOUKOULIOS
editor ARTEMIS ANASTASIADOU
sound supervisor NIKOLAS KONSTANTINOU
sound recordists CHRISTOS PAPADOPOULOS NIKOLAS KONSTANTINOU
first assistant director MARIA LAINAS
second assistant director ALKI POLITI
associate producer KATERINA NIKOU
producer THEO PRODROMIDIS
production manager CHRYSOSTOMOS THEODOROUDIS
1st assistant camera STAMATIS KOUROS
set designer-costume designer KATERINA TSAKOTA
hair and makeup IOANNA LYGIZOU
set photographer PETROS NIKOLTSOS
production assistants DIMITRIS OMORFOS SAVVAS PARASKEVAS
LEFTERIS STEFANIDIS LEFTERIS THEODOROUDIS
audio post-production NIKOLAS KONSTANTINOU
post-production AUTHORWAVE
post-production manager PANOS BISDAS
colorist ALEXANDROS KAPIDAKIS
subtitles PANAGIOTIS KARAHALIOS
camera BLACK MAGIC CINEMA CAMERA
lenses CARL ZEISS COMPACT PRIMES

original score composer THOMAS BAKALAKOS
"After Our Darkness" 2013
Inspired by Anne Clarke's "Our Darkness" and Bertolt Brecht's "The Messingkauf Dialogues"
a study in brass sound by THOMAS BAKALAKOS for a brass octet, 2 bassoon, drums and percussion
arrangement for concert band DIMITRIS MICHAS
lyrics adaptation THEO PRODROMIDIS
performed by PINELOPI TSILIKA and recorded at TONE STUDIO ATHENS
score performed by ATHENS MUNICIPALITY PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
conductor DIMITRIS MICHAS
recorded by VASILIS EFRAIMIDIS

shot in location at
COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREECE
ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE BUILDINGS AT SOFOKLEOUS AND PESMATZOGLOU
EMPOROCHALKO
COLOMBOS METALS
BIOS

co-produced by
THEO PRODROMIDIS STUDIO
PARASOL PRODUCTIONS
AUTHORWAVE

© THEO PRODROMIDIS / THEO PRODROMIDIS STUDIO 2013

installation design and supervision MARIA MANETA
artist's assistant KONSTANTINOS KOTSIS

many thanks to
GIANNIS ANAGNOSTOU, KLIMIS ASIKOGLOU, YIORGOS BAKALAKOS, DR. RUDIGER BOLZ, VASILIS CHARALAMPIDIS, KOSTIS CHRISTOPOULOS, YIANNIS EXINTARIS, NIKOLETA FILOSOGLOU, ANGELOS FRANTZIS, BABIS GALIATSATOS, SOFIA GEORGOVASSILI, ALKISTIS GIANNAKOURA, KATIA GOULIONI, AKIS GOURZOULIDIS, ALEXANDRA GRISPOU, ANJA KIRSCHNER, ELINA KOUNTOURI, KOSTAS KOUTSOSPYROS, AMANDA LIVANOU, KOSTAS MAGLARAS, SOFIA MOYSIDOU, DAVID PANOS, NELLY PAPACHELA, EVGENIA PAPAPANOU, KATERINA PERRATI, ARIS PRODROMIDIS, STAVROS RAPTIS, STRATOS SARANTIDIS, VAIA SKANDALI, KOSTAS STAMATOPOULOS, GIORGOS SYMEONIDIS, MARIANNA THEODORIDOU, ILEANA TOUNTA, KATERINA TSELOU, NIKOS VAVOURIS, NIKOLAOS VERGOPOULOS, MARIA VERGOPOULOU, CHRYSA VLACHOPOULOU, ALEX ZIKA, MARIA ZOURARI-BOLZ.

dedicated to the work and in memory of DR JACKIE HATFIELD

with the support of
OUTSET. GREECE

with the contribution of
HELLENIC COPPER DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, COPPER ALLIANCE
and SOFIA MED

in cooperation with
ATHENS MUNICIPALITY PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
and OPAN (ATHENS MUNICIPALITY CULTURAL, SPORTS AND YOUTH ORGANIZATION)

Towards the production of Dialogues On The Market Of Bronze and Other Precious Materials, 2013 is kindly supported by Outset Greece

http://outset.org.uk/greece/projects/theo-prodromidis-towards-the-production-of-dialogues-on-the-mark/

http://outset.org.uk/greece/projects/theo-prodromidis-towards-the-production-of-dialogues-on-the-mark/

New work for AGORA, 4th Athens Biennale, 29.09.13 - 01.12.13

Now what?
Modeled on the ancient agora, a place of assembly, conciliation and a collaborative production of political and social work, the 4th Athens Biennale aspires to be a breeding ground for discourse at the same time that it tackles an array of common concerns and probes both the possibilities and limitations of participation and collectivity.

The curatorial team of AGORA welcomes in this experiment the participating artists, professionals of different disciplines, collaborative initiatives and civic groups and invites the public to meet them and join them at the 4th Athens Biennale 2013 AGORA.

Participants and Projects:

A Whale‘s Architects, Abbas Akhavan, ABROAD, Activist group of the Theatre of the Oppressed, David Adler, AGORA Kyklos, Ianna Andreadis, Dimitris Antoniou, Arbit City Group, Art & Economics Group (Tanja Ostojic, Dimitri Kleiner, David Rych), Art as a Change Maker, Artbank, Anestis Azas, Manolis Baboussis, Bertille Bak, Erica Baum, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Dave Beech, Matei Bejenaru, Blitz, Iain Boal, Irina Botea, Tania Bruguera, Campus Novel, Charley Case, Center for Research and Dissemination of Music Scheming, Giuseppe Chico & Barbara Matijević, Katerina Christidi, Creative alternatives to the state of bankruptcy, Neil Cummings, Dashndem, Anthony Davies, Design 99, Dimitris Dokatzis, Sam Durant, Economic Forum, Erect like a Country, Charles Esche, Event as Process, Fallen Fruit, Heiner Flessbeck, FYTA, Rainer Ganahl, Nikolaus Gansterer & Emma Cocker, Fernando Garcia–Dory, Bruce Gilbert and BAW, Fotini Gouseti & Taxideftes Politismou, Grupo Etcetera, Nuria Guell, Severin Guelpa, Jan Peter Hammer, Paul Handley, George Harvalias, David Harvey, Constantinos Hadzinikolaou, Yota Ioannidou, It Takes Two to Tango, Nazima Kadir, Yannis Kalaitzis, Valentina Karga & Pieterjan Grandry, Gareth Kennedy & Sarah Browne, Soo–Young Kim, Anja Kirschner & David Panos, Anna Kleberg, Ika Knezevic, Maria Konti, Zissis Kotionis, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Gabriel Kuri, Kyklos Ensemble, Mara Maglione, Gosalyn Mallard, Paolo Manasse, Jenny Marketou, Gabriel Mascaro, Konstantinos Mihos, Never the Same, The New Parthenon, Vladimir Nikolic, Nomadic Kitchen / Shedia, The Non–Serious Lectures, Navid Nuur, OKK Actiongroup, Boris Ondreicka, Geof Oppenheimer, Georgia Paizi, Leda Papaconstantinou, Yorgos Papadakis, Panos Papadopoulos, Elias Papaioannou, Ester Partegas, The 'peculiarity' of the Greek case vis–a–vis European 'normality', Pil & Galia Kollectiv, Adrian Piper, Antonis Pittas, Vito Polito, Sally Potter, Thomas Poulsen/FOS,! Pre – Institutional Critique Workshop, Theo Prodromidis, Anja Puntari, Qualia, Radio Materiality, Gene Ray, Raymondos, Lucrezia Reichlin, Steve Reinke, Oliver Ressler, Juan Carlos Romero, Romvos, Frances Ruane, Salinas / Bergman, Salon de Vortex, Marinella Senatore, Roman Signer, Laurie Simmons, Deb Sokolow, Aspa Stassinopoulou, Yannis Stavrakakis, Hito Steyerl, Subversive affirmation and overidentification, Superstudio, Amund Sjolie Sveen, Petros Touloudis, Nikos Tranos, Kostas Tsolis, Loukas Tsoukalis, Value, Vital Space, Vassilis Vlastaras, Peter Watkins, Wooloo, Zafos Xagoraris, Mi You & Lisa Bensel.

29.09.13 - 01.12.13

OPENING HOURS

National Bank of Greece Building, 8–10 Sofokleous str.
CAMP Contemporary Art Meeting Point, 4 Eupolidos & 2 Apellou str.
Tuesday–Friday: 12.00–21.00
Saturday & Sunday: 10.00–22.00

http://athensbiennale.org/en/agora_en/

Thrills and Chills, CAN gallery, 19.09.13 - 19.10.13

"Thrills and Chills", Group exhibition, Curated by: Christina Androulidaki and Daily Lazy Projects, September 19 - October 19, 2013 CAN CHRISTINA ANDROULIDAKI GALLERY 42 ANAGNOSTOPOULOU STR 10673 Athens GR T/F +30.210.3390833 info@can-gallery.com www.can-gallery.com OPENING HOURS: Tuesday - Friday: 11am - 3pm / 5pm - 8pm Saturday: 11am - 4pm

Vox pop and nothing more, 2009 at An Urban Film Map, ReMap 4, Athens

http://remapkm.org/4/events/camp-contemporary-art-meeting-point/

http://anurbanfilmmap.tumblr.com

A performance for a meteorite state (after Collapsing New People), 2013 at Expanding Foam And Intellectuals, ReMap 4, Athens

http://remapkm.org/4/projects/six-d-o-g-s/

http://sixdogs.gr/?p=19829

considering value, off-value and some alchemy

ghent, 2006

The Magnificent Capital, 2007 at 1,2,3,b4 at Contemporary Art Centre Thessaloniki

1, 2, 3, b4

18/06/2013- 04/09/2013

Exhibition “1,2,3, b4”
Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki (Warehouse B1)-SMCA
June 18 – September 4, 2013
Opening: Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 20:30

On the occasion of the upcoming 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, the exhibition “1,2,3, b4” comes as a precursor of  the 4^th Thessaloniki Biennale program. The exhibition opens on June 18 and lasts until the 4^th of September 2013, at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki - State Museum of Contemporary Art, in Warehouse B1, Thessaloniki port area. [Opening: Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 20:30. Opening hours Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10:00-18:00, Thursday 10:00-21:00]

The title of the exhibition refers to the Biennales that took place in the city of Thessaloniki in 2007, 2009 and 2011, while the pun b4 (= before) refers to the upcoming 4th Biennale of Contemporary Art, which will be hosted in the city by September 18^th, 2013 at various venues with numerous exhibitions and events.

The exhibition

The artworks presented in the exhibition are productions of the previous Central and Parallel Programs (namely the three International Young Artists’ Workshops, as well as the last Performance Festival and the Public Screen Project) of the previous Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2007, 2009,. 2011 The works are donations from the artists to the collection of the State Museum of Contemporary Art and to the city of Thessaloniki

The artworks selected and included in the exhibition now get into a completely new context and they are connected in a different exhibition scenography.

Artists from different countries and backgrounds coexist in a project preparing the ground for this  year's fourth edition of the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art.

All works/projects reflect the ideological content of the previous Biennials, apart from reflecting individual and sociopolitical, international and local ideas and concepts.
Abandoned places-“heterotopias”, social and labor inequalities, images of modern Greece and the Mediterranean region, symbols of oppression, ecological disasters, gender and identity issues are few of the ideas that coexist and interact.
The exhibition, apart from summing up all the previous events, is in addition the documentation of an important project that is closely linked to Thessaloniki, continuing to contribute to the city’s life and cultural wealth, as well as important international coverage.

The artists and projects included:

Dimitris Ameladiotis, Untitled, installation, 2011

Elina Ioannou, Composition with fence and plastic bags, installation, 2011

Helen Mouzakiti, Untitled, photographic series, 2005-7

Theo Prodromidis, The Magnificent Capital, video, 2007

Chryse Tsiota, Locus Suspectus, video installation and photographs, 2007

Vahram Aghasyan, Ghost Town, photographic series, 2005

Tursun Ali, Life in Aral, photograph, 2006

Victor An, Requiem, photograph, 1989

Nadia Ayari, Without Walls: The new paintings of Thessaloniki, portable murals pasted on wood and photographs 2011

Nezaket Ekici, performance, Selection of documented performances from the Thessaloniki Performance Festival, 2011

Andrei Filippov, Saw, photomontage, 2006

Luigi Presicce, performance, Selection of documented performances from the Thessaloniki Performance Festival, 2011

Kira O’ Reilly, performance, Selection of documented performances from the Thessaloniki Performance Festival, 2011

Omid Salehi, Cane Land, photographic series, 2003

Azat Sargsyan, Public Constructivism, photographic series, 2008

Guram Tsibakhasvili, Interiors, photographic series, 2000

Yang Yongliang, Untitled, photographic series, 2009

The project Public Screen, 2007 

Curators: Areti Leopoulou, Thodoris Markoglou, At Historians & Curators SMCA/ CACT

Museographer: Gianna Stavroulaki, Architect