The opening of the impressive visual arts installation on Thursday, September 8, was completed with great success at the Old Olive Mill in Elefsina
A production of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture.
Co-organized in collaboration with the Aeschylia Festival 2022
The opening of the in situ sculptural installation Mystery_22 Straw Falling on Concrete Floors by renowned visual artist, Kostis Velonis, was completed with great success on Thursday, September 8. It is a production of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, co-organized in collaboration with Aeschylia Festival 2022.
Representatives from the entire spectrum of the visual arts, artists and a large number of spectators were present to witness the impressive installation: the imposing 11-meter-high work entitled “The thighs of Demeter,” a visual arts ecosystem inspired by the mythological and historical tradition of Elefsina, as well as its second part, entitled “Persephone stumbled,” which establishes the location of Persephone’s abduction by Pluto.
The visual arts installation will be hosted at the Old Olive Mill until Sunday, October 23.
Learn more about the installation here
The visual artist, Kostis Velonis, mentions:
The in situ sculptural installation Straw falling on concrete floors is based on the mythological and historical tradition of Elefsina, and is part of a larger study on the tectonic composition of animism. The goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, offer the ideal narrative for the merging of the inorganic with the organic element and how seemingly different entities and physical phenomena, defined by movement or immobility, animate and inanimate matter, flourishing and withering, can overlap and not work in opposition.
The architectural scale of the construction connects to the notion of moira as protractor measurement unit with the notion of moira as destiny and luck. The stakes of this upright and vertical anthropomorphic field do not only concern the surface of the earth and the height of a “wind-friendly” structure, but also address a reverse course, where height can be understood as an ultimate depth. All the agricultural activities that Demeter (earth mother) takes care of by plowing, sowing and harvesting, also involve the chthonic element. Persephone and her stay in Hades for some months of the year reflect the continuation of a permanent existential narrative with the natural life cycle of plants as a symbol of birth, death and rebirth.
Information
Curatorial Direction: Directorate of Contemporary Art – Zoi Moutsokou | 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture
Associate Curator:Ioanna Gerakidi
Architectural Curation: A Whale’s architects & Diogenis Verigakis
Photography: Panos Kokkinias
Scientific and Material Contribution: Agricultural University of Athens
Production Management: Alexandros Tiliopoulos
Production Coordination: Giorgos Katsonis
Executive Production: opbo studio
Organized by 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture & Aeschylia Festival 2022
A production of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture
Venue: Old Olive Mill, Elefsina
Exhibition duration: 28/8 – 23/10
Opening hours: 28/8-19/9 Monday-Sunday 19:00-23:00 (on days with performances at 19:00- 20:30) 20/9-23/10 Wednesday-Sunday 17:00-21:00
Free Admission
