ODOS ELEONOS &
THE ACROPOLIS HAS LEFT OUR PLATE

2023

For the major exhibition “Anthropocene, Chthonian” in Athens in autumn 2023, we are working with the last remaining residents of a now industrial neighborhood that is paradigmatic of the Anthropocene.
Without any preconceived plan, we listen to the concerns and needs of our interlocutors on a daily basis, and this is how the two collective performances-pleas from residents of different origins emerge.

ODOS ELEONOS

The neighborhood has no sewage system, but septic tanks that are expensive to empty, smelly and drain a plethora of mosquitoes. We propose to co-create a symbolic sewage system using recycled garden hoses. The homeless person squatting in the first house launches the action, and then almost all the neighbors graft their individual hoses onto the community network. A name, a year of arrival, an anecdote add an individual dimension to the collective action. In the photo, Ali.

THE ACROPOLIS HAS LEFT OUR PLATE

In Greek, we say “I have the Acropolis on my plate” when we have a view of it, which was the case for the residents before the City dumped a mountain of asphalt rubble there two years ago. People used to play swings and soccer there. There used to be a vegetable
garden.
Starting point : with us, each resident sets up a table in front of his or her home, with the rubble on the plate and a photo of the acropolis next to it. Here, Mr. Vagelis.

The audience stops in front of the resident’s home, listens to the resident calling the asphalt rubble names like « devil », « trash », « human-made mountain »… Then everyone moves with the table to the next one.

Ending point : All the tables are united and the residents but also the audience is invited to loudly break the rubble. On the picture : Ms Argyro and Afroditi.

Epilogue, a glimmer of hope: with a tube found on site and painted, we offer the locals a long view with, at the end, illuminated by a flashlight, a photo, taken from the top of the mountain of rubble, of the Acropolis.