During the period from November 2006 to September 2007 and after visiting the neighbourhood many times, the participants worked on the production of individual or collaborative video works to include them in a joint DVD/’art product’ sponsored by themselves. Based on the creation and the assembly of video works in the electronic form of a DVD, Visibility challenges the notion of authenticity and collectible value of a work of art by suggesting a mass reproduction. In specific, 2.000 copies of the DVD were made which during the performance the participants (including myself), acting as vendors, exchanged with products and/or goods people were willing to offer at the open-air market. Positioned on a large wooden stall, each one of the copies of the DVD was manuscript numbered by the participants in an ironic commentary on the politics involved in the calculation of the value of an artwork and the decisions made for its inclusion or exclusion from the art collection system.
In the performance, there was a considerably enthusiastic participation from the residents of Attiki Square and the vendors of the street market who offered a variety of objects, ingredients and goods in order to obtain the DVD/’art product’. All these kinds of things left by the audience in the stall of the performance formulated the ‘audience product’, which along with other materials created the installation of the Visibility project. At the end of the performance, the stall was moved to a physical exhibition space. The public performance, the conversations and dialogues between the artists and the people in the market, were video recorded and broadcasted live in the exhibition space.
The performance was realized, thanks to the support of the Panhellenic Federation of Street Market Vendor Unions.
Visibility Installation:
- Projection of the video documentation of the public performance (video/raw material, without editing)
- The stall of the performance along with the material items left by the audience during the exchange
- Projection of the DVD (video works of the participants)
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Nikos Bubaris & Yiannis Christakos (collaboration) | Marianna Nikolaou | Maria Nymfiadi | Constantinos Papadoukas | Zoi Pappa | Maria Paschalidou | Lea Petrou | George Tserionis | Adonis Volanakis
PERFORMANCE:
- Visibility Collective Public Long-duration Performance. Open-air Market of Attiki Square, Athens, Saturday 29, September 2007 | Duration of public qact: 07:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
EXHIBITIONS:
- Visibility Installation. Gallery cheapart, Athens, September 29 – October 1, 2007. Curator: Maria Paschalidou
LECTURES:
- Maria Paschalidou, “On Visibility and Exchange: Visibility, Public Performance of Artists in the Street Market of Attiki Square. Lecture at the Meeting “From Bazaar to Hamam. Art Outdoors”. Parallel Action of the Visual Arts in Greece 2 / 2007, Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art, January 19, 2008
PUBLICATIONS:
- Visibility DVD e-edition. Athens 2007
DVD (participants’ videos):
- Under my Gaze (14:22) Nikos Bubaris & Yiannis Christakos
- ... how many hours have you worked today...? (03:30) Marianna Nikolaou
- Eye test (02:06) Maria Nymfiadi
- apARTment (03:08) Constantinos Papadoukas
- Meat me (04:01) Zoi Pappa
- “That Is All…” (11:45) Maria Paschalidou
- acro-poli / acro-ligo, 10 Cartes Postales (07:20) Lea Petrou
- Like a Trillion of the Millimetre (00:46) George Tserionis
- «sentisalvox plus» (02:41) Adonis Volanakis
Graphic design (poster, website and DVD): Yannis Lolis/lo-key
Translation: Yannis Patakas | Laskarina Polemi