Third Port – Venice

In Venice, the two artists examine the element of verticality defined by the city’s submergence. They observe the cycles in which salt corrodes human constructions and the sea imposes itself upon the works of human beings. The rising and submerging water flows actively intervene in the area by reflecting light. The ebb and flow of the horizon reveal transcendental loci that allude to a palpable sense of exaltation as conveyed by Byzantine iconography and the undulations of Byzantine notation.

The work will be presented at the premises of the Greek Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, in collaboration with architects Kostis Panigiris and Andreas Nikolovgenis, curators of the “Bodies of Water” exhibition.

The two curators approach the notion of water dams as an inverted archipelago. This idea inspires the two artists, who accordingly focus on the overflow of dams and the decompression of their water volumes. The recent floods in the Mediterranean basin, where water masses are altering the geography of vast areas and forcing their inhabitants to redefine their lives, have become the springboard for this synergy. Venice, a port where people remain in everyday dialogue with the transformative condition of water fluctuations, offers a platform for contemplating the mutual dependence between the works of human beings and the natural environment.

The TRANSIENS NOSTRUM installation transpires as a performance during the last ten days of the Venice Architecture Biennale, beginning on November 16 and culminating on November 26. Through this collaboration, the “Bodies of Water” exhibition is deconstructed, and visitors may follow its gradual transformation into a new work, the third stop of the TRANSIENS NOSTRUM circumnavigation.

THE INSTALLATION

On one side of the Greek Pavilion’s hall, the work “Wave” shall be hung, representing reflections of the light upon bodies of water. It is a large-scale work bearing a transparent surface coated with silver metallic paint. Underneath the work, crystal shards created from the shattering of the glass surfaces are gradually placed along the bathymetric drawings of the dams in the “Bodies of Water” exhibition. These fragments form a large-scale mosaic floor that reflects light. Among them, salt crystals enhance the play of light, while their capacity to concentrate moisture gradually leads to the partial deliquescence of the work. As visitors wander through the work, they hear their footsteps on the fragments.

The sound of the TRANSIENS NOSTRUM installation converses with the interactive sonic palette of the “Bodies of Water” exhibition as designed by composer Dimitris Karageorgos. During the gradual deconstruction of the exhibition, speakers and wiring are revealed while the room is flooded with the sound of broken glass. The sound excerpts of “Bodies of Water” are submerged in a water container, and their sound is filtered within a continuous submersion process. The field recordings of the dams’ flora and fauna sounds are “drowned,” while Pangalou’s voice weaves them with the electronic soundscapes of the “Bodies of Water” exhibition within a daily, long-hour performance.

The TRANSIENS NOSTRUM visual and sound installation will ultimately document the deconstruction and reconstruction process of the “Bodies of Water” exhibition.

The motor behind the synergy of the two teams is the timely observation of the sweeping force of nature and the creative capacities of people’s persistence, on a collective and individual level, to survive, accept loss, and dream of a sustainable and flourishing future.

The “Bodies of Water” exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale is organically fulfilled through its deconstruction and transformation into a novel dynamic condition where the flowing of water volumes dominates the scene. The collaboration between two teams, materialising through the osmosis of their respective works, suggests a non-conventional reading of time through the prism of inversion. Water as nature and water deposits as human constructions mirror each other and course in time through a dynamic and, at the same time, fragile relationship.

https://bodiesofwater.gr/