The Exhibition in the little swimming pool

us a poem in the shimmering light. Mario Scudeletti’s sculpture, made out of a
rubber glove, floats in the water – everyone stares quietly at the smooth glide
of the almost sea-creature-looking glove, that casts fascinating shadows on
the bottom of the pool.
Phaidonas Gialis sets up a sculpture inside of the pool. The sculpture plays
with energy, which in this case is collected and transmitted as light. The different
electronic parts of the sculpture light up one by one. Also Stef Kamaris
exhibits a sculpture, with more analogical technology. Essentially Kamaris’
sculpture is a sea inside of a sea – a house-looking water container with a sailing
boat inside. Two fans in the roof of the container form waves in the water.
There’s some technical difficulties with Kamaris’ piece – the boat gets stuck.
After some help and advices from the audience, the boat is back on sailing
again. “It’s very DIY-show!” someone yells in the back.
All the films of the exhibition are screened together, one after another. The
projection comes from above, formatted precisely to fit the bottom of the round
pool. The artists showing their films are Federica Peyrolo, Jari Kallio, Max
Hilsamer & Anna Lauenstein. Peyrolo’s film is shot from a bird perspective,
that fits perfectly the way how the film is projected. After Peyrolo’s film, an
underwater 3D modeled face of Marina Abramovic appears into the pool as part
of Kallio’s film. Abramovic’s face is sculpted to perfection with black metal
blasting in the background. Max Hilsamer’s animated film plays with different
means of connections, from star constellations to social media networks. Lastly
we see a film by Lauenstein, which I recognize to be parts of her film“Transmediterranean”.
The film reimagines geopolitical ways of seeing the mediterranean
area – as transcultural, borderless transmediterranean.
The projection goes off. In the silence we can hear the surrounding city below
us. I wonder, if anyone has ever stared at a kiddy pool for such a long time?
When writing this now, when I have returned back to Finland, that very warm
Athenian summer night seems very far but close. I came back hoping for a relief
from the hot sun of Greece, just to realize I could not escape the heat – a
massive heat wave is troubling the whole of Northern Hemisphere. The unusual
hot and dry weather is causing serious challenges for all humans, non-human
animals and the nature alike. In the middle of it all, I hear about the horrendous
wildfires surrounding Athens.
I feel anxious and helpless. I find myself thinking, how I never want to forget
how important it is to enjoy the small things in life. Although, those things we
consider small, are sometimes the most important of them all – like this evening
filled with art and togetherness. Instead of drowning myself with worry
and doubt, I want to remember Athens, the capability of collective energy and
taking action when it’s needed. People do amazing things to help one another,
and in the end that’s what matters.