SISIFOS

ART AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL

SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION
CREATED FOR THE PUBLIC SPACE
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROJECT

SISIFOS- ART AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL

INTRODUCTION

In the frame of materializing the art work SISIFOS-ART AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL, people of literature, arts and sciences were invited , to not only present their own approach in terms of the thematics dealt with by this presentation, but also their own personal stance in terms of the sense of therapy, trauma and evolution. The dynamic developed brought to light communicating thoughts, ideas that are interconnected to the totality of the body of work and symbolic associations.  The artistic imprint and the design of the action fed the texts and the texts on their turn provided their own momentum to their artistic part. Thus emerged fertile ground for individual research thematics of detecting elements and reasoning not only in a philosophical but also in an anthropological level. Contemplation and authorship of texts in regards to the SISIFOS action is still in progress at the time this introduction is written. This progress does not have a time limit in terms of complete performance. The process will be complete when people who document their materials and thoughts decide that they shared a significant part of these.

Parts of these thoughts are accommodated in this text, to the purpose of developing the theoretical part as an extra tool which will facilitate the understanding of the visual result. This text contains images that document the whole of the visual action-site specific installation- that create the canvas to contemplate the writings.

Writings by : Maria Karathanou/ Angelos Christofilopoulos/ Matteo Nucci/ Stella Papakonstantinou/ Evgenia Tzirtzilaki

This project is an inspired encounter between photographer Angelos Christofilopoulos and visual artist Maria Karathanou, aiming to deliver inclusive events of visual artworks and exhibitions for the public space.

The process aims at implementing large-scale visual art, inspired by anthropocentric themes. This project is to be presented in a real outdoors space to emphasise the need for the presence of art in public space-society and thus to strengthen the relationship between the artwork and the public (experiential art-experience).

The project aims at combining different forms of art in one common collective work, which will attempt to innovatively redefine how art is presented, making it accessible and friendly to a large part of the population. The media of expression for the implementation of the artwork as well as the locations selected to be turned into exhibition spaces, put the relationship between the art and the public in a whole new context. What will be attempted is for art observation to employ free, emotion-triggering research and presentation methods in order to come up with answers for those who fall short of recognising art and placing it within the “entirety” where it belongs.

Depending on the specificities of each artwork, old and new techniques, styles, and genres are used. This way, the language of visual arts is redefined and created, a language that aims at developing an art footprint directly connected with society through visual storytelling – and with common start and objectives.

The notion of collective artwork is structurally based in mainly two media, photography and visual arts. It is an experimental project, firstly in the sense of arts genres mutual exchange and interconnectedness; secondly in the sense of redefining all pre-existing structures and forms both in photography and visual arts. The use of parts does not descend from clear pre-existing boundaries and “events,” but utilises the dynamic among theme elements and research fields at the time they are happening, taking also into account the location-space where they will be implemented (time-space localisation).

It was first presented to the public with the visual arts large-scale installation in public space under the title achronic, in March 2020, at Parodios Stoa (Kolokotroni & Aiolou streets, Athens), in partnership with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The installation redefined structurally the space by removing large parts of the walls and the ceiling, by exhibiting photographic artwork on the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, and by using plastic arts and light as an expression medium in one unified installation. The installation could be viewed from the streets surrounding the building – site specific window display. The exhibition was suspended due to the Covid19 pandemic and opened its doors again in May 2020 and until September the same year.

The international humanitarian crisis caused by the Covid19 pandemic in 2020-2021 and the specificities of the resulting new, unusual way of life is subject to research. This research requires both systematic observation as well as defining of art processes and actions within this specific time period – historical context.