State of Concept, with the support of Tandem Europe and Onassis Cultural Center
Theme:Heatwave
Conductor:3137 – Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Kosmas Nikolaou, Paky Vlassopoulou
OpenGround is a workshop for young artists and curators realized as part of Tandem Europe 2015-17 program, born out of the idea to create a replicable educational model for the professional development of artists and curators. For 5 days, a team of professionals has guided 21 participants from Cipro, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, England and Netherlands through a creative and innovative process made up of various appointments. Among these, two full days were dedicated to AtWork Lab. Today we talk a lot about art and creativity, often dismissing the existence of the productive circuit which the artists have to face. While the creative process is where the work of art is being conceived, the processes of production and distribution are indispensable in order to give it value and visibility. OpenGround therefore was committed to analyse, together with its participants, all the practices and competences required to autonomously and efficiently realize a work of art and promote it. It aimed to provide a toolbox that is necessary in order for the creativity to live and thrive and for the artist to be independent and not be closed in a solitary form of expression that often risks to become counterproductive.
A continuous discovery, alternating listening and round tables, we had few days to confront, talk and create. A full immersion in a rich and various context of different talents, desires and backgrounds. It was fun, over it, friendship made in and around art turned this whole experience into something more than mere getting back, informations, feedback and networking.
Serge Campo, Curator
AtWork Lab was in fact key in this space as it uses the creative process to trigger individual reflection, which produces multiple meanings through a collective experience.
Thanks to its versatility and flexibility and the ability to adapt to various contents and contexts, AtWork provided an empirical moment, where the participants interacted with each other through the creative process. Led by an artistic collective from Athens, 3 137, AtWork Lab Athens tackled the theme of “Heatwave” as both concrete and metaphysical experience. Greece is a country known for its extremely high temperatures and scorching summers. But what happens when the heatwave is present? Is heatwave a worldwide situation? What are the consequences of the heat that is out of control? The heat in a city like Athens, becomes therefore a metaphor through which to explore Greece in many different ways. The workshop focused on discussing, sharing and further elaborating our individual and common ideas while using the material boundaries of the notebook as an everyday instrument of keeping thoughts and ideas. Heatwave was discussed not only as threat or dystopia, but also as a passing moment, a coming breeze, a statement of an obligatory pause, a blurred situation for searching the next step. The participants shared their thoughts about our time and created a dialogue about the systems that we live in and the terms of categorization and classification in order to rethink our future, while also reacting to our present.
The notebooks produced during the workshop were exhibited on the 5th of November at the Pantheon building in Athens.
“Absorbing from other people’s creativity to manifest raw thoughts on a shared theme, at the same time and place, can be a very affective experience of the unconscious.”
Iasonas Kampanis, artist
3137 is an artist run project space based in Athens, initiated in 2012 by Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Kosmas Nikolaou and Paky Vlassopoulou. The space operates as an independent initiative run by artists, having as aim to create a meeting point for exchange of ideas and discussion. Its projects emphasize on artistic production, collaboration and hospitality, having a strong interest in institutional critic and hybrid forms of being together. Artists, spaces, initiatives and theorists that they have collaborated with are among others Daniel Gustav Cramer, Cevdet Erek, Dan Perjovschi, Panos Papadopoulos, Myrto Xanthopoulou, Athens Biennale, Kunsthalle Lisabon, Locus Athens, State of Concept, Dimitris Antoniou, Michelangelo Corsaro and Galini Notti.
Chrysanthi Koumianaki (1985) lives and works in Athens. She studied Fine Arts and Visual Communication in Greece and London. Her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and project spaces in Europe. Most recent shows include her solo project Chroachym (2016) at Mentis (Center for the preservation of traditional textile techniques) in Athens curated by locus athens and The Equiilibrists (2016), organized by the New Museum, New York and DESTE Foundation at Benaki Museum in Athens.
Kosmas Nikolaou (1984) lives and work in Athens. He studied art and architecture in Greece and Italy. He has presented his work in different museums and exhibition spaces like the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, the Benaki Museum in Athens, Rebecca Camhi Gallery Athens, Enterprise projects and New Studio in London (upcoming). He was artist in Residence at Sterna Art Project in Nisyros in 2015 and he is fellow of Ideas City program by New Museum, New York.
Paky Vlassopoulou (1985) lives and works in Athens. She studied sculpture, taking her masters from the Fine Art School of Athens. Recent shows include her solo projects Be quiet in Nevan Contempo gallery in Prague, Czech Republic and Cause love is such an old fashioned word (Δούρειος Ίππος) in Enterprise projects space in Athens, Greece.
A space for informal encounters turned into a melting pot of creative minds and inspiring thoughts.
Myrto Katsimicha, Curator & Tandem Europe 2015-17 partner
