Change Nothing

Snehta Residency, Athens, Greece

July 19 - 27, 2018

 

Group show with Daniel Tuomey and Michalis Charalambous, curated by Panos Giannikopoulos, as a conclusion to Snehta Fokionos Residency.

'A convivium of feral tables' was placed in a public green space in the pedestrian street Fokionos Negri. Material: concrete mixed with birdseed as aggregate.

'A new career in a new town', situated in the Snehta gallery, included/referenced three species all classified as "invasive alien species" in Athens: prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), native to Mexico; tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), native to China; and ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri), native to India. Materials: Concrete, marble, earth, prickly pear, tree of heaven, feathers of ring-necked parakeet, wood, steel, white paint, bird seeds, barrier tape, plastic mesh.

'Polypolis', an A3+ artist book produced during the residency and presented alongside the two installations, can be perused in its entirety here

"Everything is visiting. Nothing is native"

Fred Pearce, The New Wild

"Weed, beasts, insects, birds, and legions of organisms unseen: the most promiscuous republic ever declared was here in the urbanic air. [...] Any wall is populated and consumed by the invisible food chains of microbes and mould, where the border between organic and inorganic life blurs. Buildings breathe and ferment — architecture is the bunker of life."

Wietske Maas & Matteo Pasquinelli, Manifesto of Urban Cannibalism